Vietnam exported more than 2.7 million tons of rice worth 1.33 billion U.S. dollars as of June 20, a decrease of 20 percent in volume and 23 percent in value compared with the same period last year.
Pham Van Bay, vice chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, released the figures at a meeting on rice consumption in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday.
The meeting, held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, discussed measures on rice purchase in the southern Mekong River delta during the summer-autumn crop season this year, of which the ministry suggested a plan to purchase one million tons of rice for reserve.
Enterprises, which purchase rice for reserve from late July to the end of September this year will be given loans with a preferential interest rate from the government, according to the ministry.
Vietnam is facing difficulties in exporting rice due to tough competition from foreign rice exporters, including India, Pakistan, Thailand and Myanmar. The country has set a target to export 6.5 million to 7 million tons of rice this year./.