Vietnam Has High Hopes for Coffee Business
With coffee its second strongest farm produce behind rice, the Vietnamese department of agriculture has compiled a first of its kind master plan for the coffee industry to guide future expectations and aspirations.
The country is hoping to ship 1.16 million tonnes to the value of US$2.4 billion to overseas destinations by 2020, improving both the quality as well as the productivity of Vietnam’s coffee growing regions.
Department of agriculture chief, Hoang Quoc Tuan, said in the master plan’s initial review, that the Central Highlands, involving the provinces of Daklak, Gia Lai, Lam Dong and Dak Nong, would continue to represent the key coffee producing areas. Under the plan, the desired area of cultivation would ideally be 447,000 hectares in these regions, with any planting to be in line with the master plan as opposed to being unapproved.
Tuan explained that the proposed plan is in the final stages of being reviewed before it’s passed to the government for its agreement. This is expected to happen later this year.
Under the plan, it has also been suggested that a fund of US$100 million is set up to facilitate the replacement of older, unproductive trees, of which there are millions, as well as boosting the export market.
The agriculture ministry is expecting Vietnam, which saw a 17 per cent rise in its coffee volume to 1.18 million tonnes in 2009, to continue benefiting from the increase in global demand for the commodity. No particular change is expected in terms of ranking of the country’s top export markets, which are currently Germany, the US, Italy and Japan.