Vietnam’s rice race heats up with fresh push for quality gains
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s recent directive to boost rice exports underscores that Vietnam’s rice industry still faces significant challenges requiring long-term, sustainable solutions focused on quality and competitive advantage.
Having overtaken Thailand as the world’s second-largest rice exporter, Vietnam is now shifting its focus from sheer volume to high-value products. The PM has called for urgent action to tackle bottlenecks threatening this position.
According to Government Office Document No 7697/VPCP-NN, issued on August 18, the sector must confront risks including salinity intrusion, drought, climate change and strict regulatory barriers from demanding markets such as the EU and Japan.
“In the context of weakening global demand, forcing rice exporters to sharply lower prices, Vietnam’s competitiveness in prices will be narrowed down. This requires a long-term strategy with the focus shifting from increasing output to improving product value,” the PM emphasised.
Vietnam must prioritise exporting high-quality and organic rice with transparent traceability and a strong national brand, or risk losing its hard-won global ranking amid fluctuating supply and climate pressures.
The PM tasked the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment with crafting detailed plans to safeguard the country’s standing while accelerating a project to develop 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice fields by 2030.
Statistics reveal that in the first seven months of 2025, Vietnam exported 5.5 million tonnes of rice worth US$2.81 billion – volume up 3.1% but value down nearly 16% compared to the same period last year.
The market faces pressure from India’s large mid-priced rice exports and the Philippines’ 60-day suspension of rice imports from September 1. The Philippines remains Vietnam’s largest rice importer.
Nonetheless, Vietnamese rice is expanding in stable markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the EU, thanks to speciality varieties like ST25.
Data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association confirms Vietnam exported 4.72 million tonnes in the first half of 2025, surpassing Thailand to become the world’s second-largest rice exporter. India leads with 11.68 million tonnes exported.
Rice exports likely to bounce back in Q2 on price and market demand recovery
VOV.VN - Vietnam’s rice export prices have increased for the second consecutive week after a period of sharp decline, and experts predict that rice exports will improve in the second quarter of the year.
