Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in just the first 9 months of this year, our country exported 1.03 million tons of rice to the Indonesian market, earning 625 million USD. Compared to the same period last year, rice exports to the “land of thousands of islands” increased by 16.9% in volume and increased sharply by 35% in value.

Accordingly, Indonesia continues to maintain its position as the second largest customer of Vietnamese rice.

Notably, Indonesia’s rice production is the 4th largest in the world. In Southeast Asia, the country’s rice output ranks 2nd, just behind Thailand. However, this “island country” also ranks 3rd in the world in rice consumption, so every year it still has to import a huge amount to serve domestic consumption.

This year, Indonesia plans to import 3.6 million tons of rice. Currently, Vietnam is the largest rice supplier to this country.

In addition to imports, Indonesia and three other Southeast Asian countries have recently partnered with Vietnam to increase their capacity to grow low-emission rice. This is because the country has a very large rice growing area, with straw production ranging from 75-90 million tons per year. However, farmers still regularly burn straw to clear their fields in preparation for the next crop. This is not only wasteful but also emits a huge amount of CO2.

In recent years, the Indonesian government has enacted laws to protect sustainable agricultural land. In particular, it stipulates that farmers are not allowed to burn straw. Instead, they will have to decompose this by-product and return it to the fields, use it as animal feed or as industrial materials and energy.

Surpassing a series of competitors, Vietnam's "pearl" is the most expensive in the world . The rice prices of a series of competitors such as Thailand, Pakistan, India... have plummeted, while Vietnam's "pearl" is stable and is the most expensive in the world.