Over 40 businessmen licenced to export rice following new decree

Hanoi – A total of 42 businessmen have been licenced to export rice after the Government’s Decree 107 issued on August 15 last year on rice export took effect.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the decree enables wholesalers to export rice, while loosening the conditions for enterprises to become wholesalers.

Accordingly, the elimination of the condition on owning rice mills and warehouses has allowed firms to lease such facilities to reduce costs and make use of other businesses’ available ones.

Enterprises also do not have to register their export contracts as previously.

Vietnam exported 4.01 million tonnes of rice worth 1.73 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, up 2.1 percent in volume but down 14.3 percent in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The figures include 651,000 tonnes worth 285 million USD in July.

In the year’s first half, the Philippines was the biggest buyer that purchased 33.7 percent of Vietnam’s rice exports.

Meanwhile, markets with strong growth in rice imports from Vietnam included Ivory Coast (up 67 percent), China’s Hong Kong (60 percent) and Saudi Arabia (38 percent).