The information was given at the workshop on Building a national brand for Vietnamese rice held on the afternoon of December 10 in Soc Trang province.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam's total rice export volume and value in the first 11 months of 2024 reached nearly 8.5 million tons with a value of 5.31 billion USD, an increase of 10.6% in volume and 22.4% in value over the same period in 2023.
The average export rice price in the first 11 months of 2024 is estimated at 627.9 USD/ton, up 10.6% over the same period in 2023, the highest ever.
Not only increasing in volume and value, in recent years, Vietnam's rice structure has continuously changed towards increasing the proportion of high-quality, high-value rice and reducing low-quality rice.
Vietnamese rice not only ensures national food security but is also famous in the international market. In the world's best rice competition, Vietnamese rice has consistently been in the top 3 for many years, of which ST25 rice has twice become the world's best rice.
However, looking at the international scale, Vietnam has not yet built a national rice brand with wide recognition and there is a lack of corporate rice brands on the world's retail shelves.
At the workshop, Mr. Le Thanh Hoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development - said that currently, registering and protecting trademarks in the international market is facing many difficulties, especially in large markets such as the EU, the US, Australia... where the requirements for intellectual property protection standards are very high. This makes rice businesses vulnerable to unfair competition, loss of brand or counterfeiting.
According to Mr. Hoa, the Vietnamese rice brand in the domestic market has not been properly invested in. Most Vietnamese consumers only care about price and do not really recognize and appreciate the brand. This creates a paradox when Vietnamese rice can build a brand abroad but is not recognized in its own country.
Mr. Hoa said that currently, some Vietnamese rice enterprises have succeeded in building their brands and establishing a foothold in the international market. Typical brands are Mr. Ho Quang Cua's ST25 rice. In particular, ST25 rice has brought pride to the Vietnamese agricultural sector when it won the title of "World's Best Rice".
"The success of ST25 is a testament to the great potential of the Vietnamese rice industry, creating a premise for the Vietnamese rice industry to elevate its brand in the global market," said Mr. Hoa.
Regarding the development of a national rice brand, Mr. Le Thanh Hoa said: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has developed a national certification brand for Vietnamese rice called "Vietnam Rice". It has been registered for protection domestically and in 22 countries, including Indonesia, Russia and 17 African countries belonging to the Organization for African Intellectual Property (OAPI). The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is implementing the assignment of a unit under the Ministry to manage and carry out procedures so that businesses can use the certification brand "Vietnam Rice".
