Speaking at the ceremony, Labor Hero, engineer Ho Quang Cua - one of the authors of ST25 rice variety - said that at the competition held in November 2025, Vietnam's ST25 rice won the First Prize in the same category as Cambodia. Because the Organizing Committee only had one trophy, the prize was awarded to the host country first, and it was not awarded to Vietnam until more than 2 months later.
Although receiving the cup late, this is a very good opportunity for us to contact the domestic press, promote internationally recognized achievements and gradually build the Vietnamese rice brand," Mr. Ho Quang Cua shared.
Mr. Cua said that in 2019, ST25 was honored for the first time as "World's Best Rice", bringing great pride but also posing challenges in maintaining quality and protecting the brand. By 2025, continuing to be recognized internationally, it is a more solid affirmation of the prestige of Vietnamese rice in the global market.
Mr. Jeremy Zwinger - Chairman of The Rice Trader, said that he decided to directly bring the cup to Vietnam to hand over to engineer Ho Quang Cua as a respect for Vietnam's rice industry and the ST25 rice variety research team that has been honored 3 times.
Also at the ceremony, Mr. Do Ha Nam - Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said that ST25 is not only a rice variety that won an award but also a national standard and asset. According to him, in the Winter-Spring crop 2025–2026, the planted area of ST25 reached nearly 200,000 ha, an increase of about 60% compared to the same period, with about 70% of the output being exported to major markets such as the US, Europe, Australia, China and Southeast Asia.
Therefore, Mr. Nam expects that ST25 rice variety will be oriented to develop as a national rice variety, fully protected, organized production according to unified standards and built a transparent value chain from variety, cultivation, processing to consumption.
From a local perspective, Mr. Tran Chi Hung - Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee, said that the success of ST25 rice is not only the pride of Labor Hero Ho Quang Cua and the research group, but also a great honor for the Mekong Delta and the country's agricultural sector. The fact that ST25 continues to be internationally honored has affirmed the intelligence, persistence and aspiration to elevate the value of Vietnamese agricultural products in the global market.
Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee emphasized that, with its role as the economic and cultural center of the region, the city is always committed to creating favorable conditions for research, production and promotion of high-quality rice varieties, contributing to building a sustainable Vietnamese rice brand.
On November 9, 2025, at the 17th Global Rice Trade Conference organized by The Rice Trader (TRT) in Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Ong Cua ST25 rice of Vietnam and Phka Romdoul rice of Cambodia excellently won the first prize of the "World's Best Rice" Contest in 2025.
Previously in 2019, at the 11th World Rice Trade Conference in Manila (Philippines), Vietnam's ST25 rice surpassed rice from countries such as Thailand and Cambodia to receive the highest award for the first time.
In 2023, at the Global Rice Trade Conference organized by The Rice Trader in Cebu (Philippines), ST25 rice continued to receive this noble title.
