Importers from 14 African countries will pay a visit to Vietnam next week, an official from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said. They would attend a meeting organized by the VCCI with traders from Mekong Delta provinces to set up an export framework, the official, who wanted to remain unnamed, said. The mission comes as part of trade cooperation between members of the West African Economic and

Monetary Union, the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, and the Greater Mekong Subregion, the official said.

African importers, who buy around 9 million tons of rice a year, are expanding their sources to Asia with focus on Vietnam and Pakistan, the world’s leading rice exporters of low-priced rice, according to Reuters.

Gambia, Somalia, Madagascar and Mozambique switched their rice imports from Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

Vietnam has a surplus of the grain because it is the harvest season and prices have declined. It exported US$2.6 billion worth of rice in the first 10 months, an increase of 83.4 percent year-on-year.

Reported by Minh Quang