Pakistan is ready to work with the Vietnamese tea sector, said the President of Pakistani Tea Association Muhammad Hamif Janoo.

At the International Tea Conference in Hanoi on July 30th, Muhammad Hamif Janoo said that Vietnamese tea has been imported by Pakistan from 1999 and is popular with local people for its quality and affordable price.

He said that Vietnam should build a centre for tea auctions to encourage farmers to raise the quality of their tea and create a healthy business environment and increase competition.

Also addressing the conference, the President of the Vietnamese Tea Association Doan Anh Tuan, said that Vietnam is one of the worlds major tea producers and the country is ranked fifth in terms of tea output and exports.

Vietnam produced 130,000 tonnes in 2009, from only 55,700 tonnes in 2000. In the first seven months of this year, the nation exported 65,000 tonnes of tea, earning 91 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent.

However, Vietnam’s tea exports to Pakistan dropped this year with a volume equal to only 60 percent of the level in the same period last year and this resulted in Pakistan dropping to the second place in the list of the 70 countries that import Vietnamese tea.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country has almost 130,000 ha of tea, mostly in the northern midland provinces, producing an average of 6.5 tonnes per ha.

Previously, Vietnam had produced black tea for export and green tea for domestic use and now the country has various kinds of tea products which meet diverse global demands.

The tea industry generates jobs for more than 6 million people in 34 provinces in the country and has made a remarkable contribution to socio-economic stability. It is also expected to be a lucrative crop for farmers in the future.

In order to develop the tea industry sustainably, Le Xuan, the head of the department for agro-forestry and salt processing, said that it is necessary to monitor the tea acreage, improve technical management and the quality of tea products.

Source: VNA