The large short supply of rice from India will create opportunities for Vietnam to promote rice exports to the UK

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK, the UK suffers shortages of 75,000 tonnes of rice in the second half of this year’s and its demand for rice is expected to grow by 2.1 percent in volume in 2024. The UK government has not yet had a policy in response to rice trade after India issued a ban on the export of non-basmati white rice to control rising domestic prices. The large short supply of rice from India will create opportunities for Vietnam to promote rice exports to the UK, said a representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK.

The trade office representative proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade encourage rice exporters to sign long-term supply contracts, and that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) consider increasing credit for businesses purchasing rice for export.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will help farmers expand Global G.A.P. (good agricultural practices) fragrant rice growing areas. The Department of Crop Production, the Plant Protection Department and governments of localities with large rice cultivation areas need to provide farmers with support related to seeds, safe agricultural materials, and rice milling and preservation.

In the UK and many other countries, Vietnamese rice is sold under the names of distributors so branding is a long-term solution for Vietnamese rice businesses to maintain market shares in the UK and other foreign markets.

The trade office representative added English language-based trade promotion through the media in the UK would help rice exporters expand market shares, and something they should know is that Asians-serving restaurants are major rice consumers in the UK, as their customers represent a large percentage of tens of millions of visitors to the UK each year.