Re: Rice export

[Tuan V Nguyen <t.nguyen@garvan.unsw.edu.au>]

Hello anh P T Lam et al,

>Assume that I can take care of getting Vietnam 
>rice to the proper wholesalers here in the U.S. and have an adequate 
>marketing and distribution system to get the consumers to buy rice from 
>VN with competitive price,  could you all give me some advices, 
>ideas, suggestions on the best way to approach the Vietnamese side.  WHat 
>are some of the problems that must be overcome? WHat sort of investments 
>would be required to upgrade old equipment?

	In the old days (and I guess still now), farmers sell 
their rice to a local provincial agency. So, I think the best 
way to get thing going without much red tape is to directly 
approach these private or public agencies in provinces such 
as Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Minh Hai etc. These days, 
provincial people are allowed to deal directly with foreign 
companies.

	I maintain that in order to have a successful export of 
VN rice (or indeed anything), we must have a high quality 
rice. It is not good enough to compete with other exporters 
by lowering the price. However, I must say that it is a 
pleasure to see many goods made in VN these days are much 
better (and improved rapidly) compared with 5 years ago.

	In terms of equipment upgrade, I think you have to 
think of large-scale rice processing factories, rather than 
small ones which are very popular in VN these days. The 
machinery can be imported from Western countries. The best 
way is to visit some Thai factories and learn from them. The 
Thai have been very successful in exporting rice; it is 
worthy to learn from their experience. 

	Cheers,

	Nguyen V Tuan