90% of Vietnamese tea exported in raw form

Nga says despite Vietnam's position among the top five tea producers and ranking fifth among worldwide tea exporters, the value of Vietnamese tea exports remains comparatively lower than other nations, at US$1,200 per hectare.

Few businesses have invested in developing trademarks and packaging technologies to increase the value of products. In addition, the number of tea factories has trippled or even increased  seven or eight fold compared to capacities of supply materials, leading to a lack of investment in material zones and low quality products.

Thai Nguyen Tea Association President Nguyen Thi Nga reports that there is limited co-ordination between tea growers and businesses and the sector still faces difficulties in ensuring quality management  and food safety and hygiene.

She warned that the tea sector should update processing technologies and production lines to produce competitive tea products while proposing tax exemption for tea cultivation in hilly regions for five years,  and setting up a price stabilization fund as well as introducing modern mechanisms to develop sustainable tea production.

(Source: VOVNEWS)