Vietnam bids for a bigger future in rubber
08 October 1998
Vietnam bids for a bigger future in rubber
VIETNAM is gearing up for a boost to its rubber production, reports the Financial Times.
Cut by a half under the Communist regime to about 40,000 hectares (16,188 acres), this has now been raised to 350,000 hectares (141,645 acres) which produces about 160,000 tonnes of latex.
Cultivation has been hampered by poor maintenance and a lack of fertiliser. But renewed investment and a $32 million (£19m) World Bank rehabilitation project have pushed up yields.
The Government is looking for further improvement. In the short term, the focus of expansion is an $84m scheme backed by the World Bank and French aid to expand production by individual smallholders in the impoverished central provinces of Vietnam.
This aims to get farmers to plant an additional 60,000 hectares (24,282 acres).
Overall, the Government plans to double the area under cultivation to 700,000 hectares (283,290 acres) by 2005.
Low labour costs and cheap land in the country mean it is well placed to replace output from neighbouring producers such as Thailand and Malaysia.
Financial Times 08/10/98 page 40