Dak Nong (VNA) – To increase the value of coffee beans and gainhigher economic profits, Vietnam should focus investment in the deep processingindustry and in technical production solutions, said experts at aninternational seminar on sustainable development for the Vietnamese coffeesector.

Theevent was held on December 10 in Gia Nghia town in the Central Highlandsprovince of Dak Nong, as part of the second Vietnam Coffee Day Festival,which is underway in the locality from December 9-12.

ViceChairman of the provincial People’s Committee Truong Thanh Tung stated that theevent offers a chance for experts, scientists, managers, entrepreneurs, andfarmers to discuss measures to best develop Vietnamese coffee, from production,harvest and preservation to processing and consumption.

Participantsstressed that Vietnam ranks second in the world in terms of coffee productionand export (only behind Brazil), with the output of around 1.7 million tonnes ayear. However, the country’s export value remains low and competitiveness isweak, as it mainly exports coffee beans.

Accordingto the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development, in recent years, there has been a shift fromreducing the proportion of coffee beans for export to increasing the proportionof processing and exporting instant and ground roasted coffee.

ActingDirector of the authority Nguyen Quoc Toan emphasised the need for Vietnam toraise the proportion of instant and ground roasted coffee from over 10 percentat present to 25 percent by 2020.

Attentionshould be paid to attracting investment in building ground roasted coffeeprocessing plants with the capacity of at least 5,000 tonnes per year, andinstant coffee ones with the capacity of at least 3,000 tonnes per year, Toansaid.

Healso suggested synchronously implementing solutions related to science-technology,dissemination, and market development.

Atthe seminar, many delegates underlined the importance of expanding the domesticmarket.

Deputyhead of the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association Do Ha Nam said that around 200,000tonnes of coffee beans are consumed domestically each year, equal to 11.7percent of total output.

Vietnamis striving for 30 percent of coffee consumed in the domestic market by 2030.It has also set the target of raising export turnover to 6 billion USD over theyear and remaining the world’s second largest producer and exporter of coffeebeans.–VNA