Vietnam Expects US$200Mln Annually from Tea Exports by 2010

Vietnam Expects US$200Mln Annually from Tea Exports by 2010

Vietnam, the world's sixth largest tea exporter and eighth largest tea producer, expects to earn US$200 million from exports of 120,000 tons of tea by 2010, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The country plans to expand the current acreage of 125,000 hectares under tea tree cultivation to 150,000 hectares and the annual output of fresh tea bud is also expected to increase from 577,000 tons to 870,000 tons by that time to meet the target.

In addition, the tea sector has encouraged all economic branches to build around 100 new tea processing establishments, each capable of processing 12 tons of tender tea leaves per day. It also plans to improve the quality and diversify of tea products for export.

The Vietnam Tea Association (Vitas) forecasts that the volume of packaged tea exported to Russia will account for 30-50 per cent of Vietnam's tea output over the next three to five years, up 20-30 per cent from the current

Vietnam shipped around 15,000 tons of tea worth US$16 million in the first three months of this year, up 5.8 per cent on-year in volume and 36.3 per cent on-year in value, according to the Government Statistics Office.

Vneconomy