The strategy, just approved by the prime minister, puts rice exports at 4.5-5 million tonnes worth $2.3 billion by 2020 and four million tonnes worth $2.5 billion by 2030.

Vietnam will focus on Asian and African markets in which China, Bangladesh and Asean countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia will remain key importers of Vietnamese rice.

Meanwhile, the targets for choosy markets such as Japan and South Korea are modest. The sector will strive to raise the proportion of Vietnamese rice in total rice imports of these countries from 2 percent by 2015 to 3 percent by 2020 and 4-5 percent by 2030.

High-quality rice from Vietnam accounted for only 2 percent of rice imports of European countries in 2015. However, the ratio is projected to grow to 4 percent by 2020 and 6 percent by 2030.

The country also plans to ship high-quality rice to most markets from 2020. Therefore, rice export volume will be 0.5-1 million tonnes less than the current four million tonnes, but the sector can earn $2.5 billion a year, up from $2.2-2.3 billion in 2017-2020.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has organised many conferences to collect input from rice exporting enterprises and gauge the demand for rice and trends in the future.

At a seminar on rice export market development held in HCM City last year, Huynh The Nang, chair of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said Vietnam should offer high-quality rice to satisfy the demand of consumers.

Vietnam should export less rice, at 2-3 million tonnes per year.

In 2012, rice exports hit a record of 8.1 million tonnes worth $3.7 billion and the number has since slipped to about six million a year. The VFA has forecast that 5.7 million tonnes of rice will be exported this year.