Processing cashew nuts for export - Source: Internet

The Financial Times of the UK last weekend noted that Vietnam’s economy is prospering from the field considered the "bottom" of the economy, which is agriculture.

Vietnam is the leading exporter of cashew and black pepper, the 2^nd largest exporter of rice and coffee, and is a main supplier of fish products around the world. Millions of peasant households in Vietnam have been taking advantage of economic integration and the global market to make the country a successful supplier of agricultural products, with huge amounts and at low prices.

However, according to Mr. Prakash Jhanwer, head of the representative office of Olam International in Vietnam, Indonesia and Laos, it is not easy for Vietnam to produce high-value foods and trademarked products.

"Vietnam has the best farmers in Asia, but it is very hard to develop through agricultural change," said Jhanwer.

Olam began to buy agricultural goods from Vietnam in the late 1990s and it is now the largest foreign exporter of coffee and also the leading exporter of cashew and black pepper in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Jhanwer, Vietnam cannot afford to develop high-quality coffee, like Javanese or Costa Rican varieties, because the capacity to produce Arabica coffee beans with a stronger flavour is limited. Mr. Jhanwar also said that the government of Vietnam needs to ensure better infrastructure to create favourable conditions for expanding the domestic market./.