The first Vietnam Coffee Day

December 10^th was sellected as the Viet Nam Coffee Day and the first Viet Nam Coffee Festival was held from December 9^th to December 12^th, 2017 in Dalat city, Lam Dong province.

The event was started with a workshop on “The new development stage of Vietnamese coffee sector” chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development. There were about 120 experts and guests attending the workshop and sharing the experiences and achievements of the coffee sector as well as the difficulties and challenges, while discussing some recommendations for policy makers to solve the existing issues and continue to promote the development of sustainable coffee production adapting to climate change… Besides, the experts also suggested some solutions in the nea future to further promote the coffee re-plantation program for those obsolete, less productive areas, prioritize the development of high-yield and high-quality seeds and at the same time attracting more investment in processed coffee and instant coffee.

The Minister also stated that the orientation for coffee development in the coming time would be not to expand the plantation areas until 2030 but to focus on improving the value added and productivity and connecting all factors in the value chain and strenthening the processing area.

Another important workshop focusing on learning and sharing the success of the Public-Private partnership (PPP) models organized by the PPP Task force on Coffee was a great activity. Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Le Quoc Doanh, the deputy minister of Agriculture and rural development, emphasized that the success of these models was thanks to the strong cooperation between the public and private sectors in connecting the farmers to the global value chains. The deputy minister also pointed out that the PPP models would become the trend for sustainable agricultural development towards improving the quality and productivity as well as increasing income for farmers.

To celebrate the first Viet Nam Coffee Day, there were also other activities taken place such as visiting the coffee plantation areas, exhibitions and coffee tasting.

The birth of Viet Nam Coffee Day demonstrated the remarkable contribution of the coffee sector to the development of Vietnamese agriculture in particular as well as the development of the country in general.