Vietnam to triple tea exports by 2010?

01 April 1999

Vietnam to triple tea exports by 2010?

VIETNAM plans to triple its tea exports by 2010, reports the Financial Times.

The country last year produced around 55,000 tonnes of tea, of which around 34,000 tonnes was exported, placing it among the worlds 10 largest tea producers.

But the state-owned tea development and marketing company Vinatea plans to raise exports to 100,000 tonnes by 2010.

The general director of the company says the industry hopes to double existing productivity levels from around 700,000 kg of dried buds per hectare annually, to around 1.4 millon tonnes.

Vinatea admits it will need capital to upgrade existing tea production facilities which are mostly old and inefficient.

• Financial Times 01/04/99 page 42