Festival highlights wet rice culture

Vietnam will hold its first Rice Festival in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang from November 26 to 30 to introduce to the world the country’s wet rice civilisation – an essential part of its culture.
At a press conference in Hanoi on September 30, Trinh Quang Hung, the Vice Chairman of the Hau Giang People’s Committee said that the event will be attended by representatives from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Rice Research Institute and representatives from rice importing countries.
The Rice Festival will include 100 stands where provinces and cities will exhibit their most efficient models of rice farming along with 200 other pavilions where food businesses and rice exporters will showcase their products.
Coupled with the exhibition and themed workshops, the festival will provide a venue for both rice producers and exporters to discuss ways of removing existing obstacles that hinder rice production and consumption, said Hung.
Vietnam remains the world’s second largest rice exporter and the country is expecting to export a record 6 million tonnes of rice in 2009.