Vietnam Overtakes Thailand, Rising to World No. 2 Rice Exporter

Thailand's rice exports in 2020 reached only 5.72 million tons, the lowest in 20 years, which not only dropped Thailand from its former No. 1 position to No. 3   

Ranking 

1. India 13.64 million tons 

 2. Vietnam 5.96 million tons 

3. Thailand 5.72 million tons  

In rice exports for the first half of 2020, Vietnam overtook Thailand to become the world's No. 2 exporter; the Commerce Ministry urges the government to speed up research and development, while farmers worry about a shortage of water sources Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit  Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, said after chairing the 1/2020 meeting of the subcommittee on drafting the Thai Rice Strategy that the meeting approved drafting the Thai Rice Strategy 2020–2024, covering 5 years. It was the first joint meeting of all sectors among the government, private sector and farmers, to prepare a market-led production strategy so that Thailand becomes a world leader in producing and exporting quality rice and rice products.

The strategy will focus on producing rice to meet the demand of 7 market types:

1. Hom Mali rice

2. Thai fragrant rice

3. Soft-texture rice

4. Hard-texture rice

5. Parboiled rice

6. Glutinous rice

7. Rice