The information was unveiled during a meeting on May 27 between Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam and SunRice Group Chair John Bradford and Group Director of Corporate Affairs Anthony McFarlane.

SunRice executives said Vietnam is becoming one of the company’s most important international supply sources, especially for premium rice products serving high-end markets.

To strengthen its supply chain and expand deep-processing capacity, SunRice plans to increase the capacity of its rice processing plant in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap to 120,000 tonnes per year.

Alongside investment activities, SunRice and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) also announced the next phase of a AUD1 million cooperation project aimed at developing a climate-resilient premium rice value chain in the Mekong Delta.

The project supports Vietnam’s programme to develop one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice cultivation by 2030. Priority areas include climate-adaptive farming techniques, improved post-harvest efficiency, enhanced traceability systems and the development of salt-tolerant rice varieties.

Under the plan, SunRice and ACIAR will continue expanding operations at the Centre of Excellence located at the company’s rice processing facility in Dong Thap. The centre is expected to serve as a hub for research, training and technology transfer for farmers and agricultural students.

Beyond production and trade, SunRice is also expanding its corporate social responsibility activities in Vietnam. It is currently sponsoring the KOTO Foundation, a social enterprise that provides vocational training in the hospitality sector for disadvantaged youth.

Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Pham Hung Tam praised SunRice’s positive contributions to Vietnam’s rice production and processing, noting its role in enhancing product value, market access, and climate resilience. He also briefed SunRice’s leadership on Vietnam’s policy of prioritising high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI) in the current period.

The Vietnamese diplomat welcomed SunRice executives’ participation in “Meet Australia 2026” recently held in Vietnam, describing it as the largest-ever Australian trade and investment promotion event in the country, expected to provide a significant boost to bilateral economic cooperation.

He encouraged SunRice to further strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese localities and businesses, support delegation exchanges and economic-trade engagement activities, and continue serving as one of Australia’s leading enterprises in high-quality trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam.

SunRice shows interest in Vietnam’s low-carbon rice production

VOV.VN - Vietnam has made great strides in reducing carbon emissions, especially through the one-million-hectare high-quality and low-carbon rice cultivation project in the Mekong Delta by 2030, says Anthony McFarlane, communications director of SunRice, Australia’s largest rice production and distribution group.