HANOI: Vietnam aims to cut its rice exports to 4 million tonnes a year by 2030 from 7.1 million tonnes last year, the government said in a document detailing its rice export strategy.
Vietnam is the world’s third-largest rice exporter, after India and Thailand.
The move is aimed at “boosting the exports of high-quality rice, ensuring domestic food security, protecting the environment and adapting to climate change”, according to the government document dated Friday (May 26) and reviewed by Reuters.
Rice export revenue will fall to US$2.62 billion a year by 2030, down from US$3.45 billion in 2022, the document said.
Vietnam will diversify its rice export markets to reduce its reliance on any single country, the document said. The Philippines has long been Vietnam’s biggest rice buyer, accounting for 45 per cent of its shipments last year.
By 2025, 60 per cent of Vietnamese rice exports will be shipped to Asian markets, 22 per cent to Africa, 7 per cent to America, 4 per cent to the Middle East and 3 per cent to Europe, the document said.
The government said Vietnam will focus on the production of high-quality, fragrant and glutinous rice, while reducing the production of low-quality grains to 15 per cent of total output by 2025 and to 10 per cent by 2030.