International Rice Festival: Must be organized properly

On the morning of August 30, in Vi Thanh city (Hau Giang), Deputy Minister Hoang Trung led a delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to have a meeting with leaders of the Hau Giang Provincial People's Committee on the work of preparing for the organization of the Vietnam International Rice Festival – Hau Giang 2023.

According to Deputy Minister Hoang Trung, this Rice Festival has been raised to an international level, so the organization scale of the festival must be carefully prepared and implemented properly. Therefore, the content and script should have a clear assignment, with specific implementation units. In parallel with the preparation work, it is necessary to focus on promoting the communication and promotion of the festival's activities.

According to Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper Nguyen Ngoc Thach, communication activities such as holding press conferences, seminars, and events at the festival chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be sponsored information and accompanied on the implementation by the Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper.

Vice Chairman of Hau Giang Provincial People's Committee Truong Canh Tuyen said that the Vietnam International Rice Festival - Hau Giang 2023 is organized in association with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Hau Giang province. The festival takes place with festival activities, seminars, competitions, record-setting, etc., with the purpose of arousing the will and desire to develop agriculture, farmers, and rural areas. It is expected that there will be about 700 booths introducing and displaying OCOP products, culinary delicacies from rice, machines and drones for rice production, etc.

Besides festival activities, the highlight of the Vietnam International Rice Festival - Hau Giang 2023 is "Vietnamese Rice Road", which brings tourists to new, interesting, and impressive discoveries when experiencing step by step the path containing the past, present, and future of Vietnam's agriculture and rice industry. This event is also organized to set a Vietnamese record for products made from rice.

The Vietnam International Rice Festival 2023 aims to convey the path of raising Vietnamese rice to an international level and convey a meaningful message about the role of the agriculture sector in general and Vietnam’s rice production industry in particular in socio-economic development and ensuring national and international food security.

In particular, the event aims to promote the development of high-quality rice production as well as its value chain towards organic rice production, ensuring food security and climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta.

It is also intended to support businesses and farmers to operate effectively and help Vietnam's rice industry, as well as agricultural product brands with geographical indications, to increase competitiveness in the international market.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has gathered feedback from relevant agencies and proposed that Hau Giang should host the festival from December 12–15. The theme throughout the festival will be ‘One Hundred-Year Journey of Vietnamese Rice", from famine to self-reliance and export.

Previously, on July 25, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan had a meeting with representatives of Hau Giang province, including Mr. Dong Van Thanh, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Truong Canh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Ngo Minh Long, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; and Mr. Le Hoang Xuyen, Chief of Office of the Provincial People's Committee.

At the meeting, the leader of the Ministry said that this is the right time to organize the Rice Festival because the rice industry is enjoying numerous advantages and competitive prices, gathering the attention of governmental leaders at all levels. The event will thus help promote the image of Vietnamese rice, particularly rice from the Mekong Delta region.