Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Mr. Paul Serra, CEO of SunRice Group from Australia – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
SunRice (1950) is the largest rice production and distribution group in Australia, accounting for approximately 90% of the rice market in Australia. The group has diversified its operations across the entire rice supply chain with over 30 brands and more than 2,000 employees in 50 countries. In 2023, the group’s revenue reached around USD 1.64 billion.
In 2008, the group acquired a controlling stake in the Lao Vo rice processing plant in Dong Thap province, with a processing capacity of about 260,000 tons of paddy per year. Since 2022, SunRice has been collaborating with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to implement the project “Developing a high-quality rice supply chain in the Mekong Delta region” with the goal of developing high-yielding and high-quality rice varieties that are sustainably serving the international consumer market.
During the meeting, SunRice’s leaders congratulated Vietnam on upgrading its relationship with Australia; reported to the Prime Minister on the investment and business situation in Vietnam, and discussed plans for expanding investments in Vietnam in the near future. SunRice highly appreciates the implementation of the program to cultivate 1 million hectares of low-emission, high-quality rice in the Mekong Delta region.
Prime Minister wants SunRice to assist in connecting Vietnamese partners with Australian partners to enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector between the two countries in the coming time – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
The Prime Minister congratulated and highly appreciated SunRice’s effective investment and business cooperation activities in general and in Vietnam in particular over the past time.
Against the backdrop of the two countries recently upgrading their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partners, the Prime Minister hopes that SunRice, with its network and influence, will assist in connecting Vietnamese partners with Australian partners to enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector between the two countries in the coming time, towards green production, healthy competition with other partners, and promoting e-commerce.
The Prime Minister hopes that SunRice, with its experience, resources, and reputation, will continue to expand investments and participate in supporting the development of the rice supply chain in Vietnam in the coming time. In particular, strengthening technology transfer, cooperating with domestic enterprises, working directly with farmers, stabilizing inputs and outputs, building storage facilities, contributing to improving production efficiency, value-added, and quality of Vietnamese rice products to meet the needs of consumers worldwide, and supporting Vietnamese products to participate more deeply in the global supply chain, especially in the Halal food industry, to create livelihoods, improve people’s lives, and promote socioeconomic development in general.
Prime Minister suggests SunRice to explore expanding activities with various other rich agricultural products in different regions of Vietnam – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
The Prime Minister suggests that the group directly exchange with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, seek partners to study and implement specific cooperation projects that bring tangible benefits to both sides, especially participating in the high-quality 1 million-hectare rice program with low emissions in the Mekong Delta region.
In addition to rice, the Prime Minister suggests that SunRice explore expanding its activities with various other rich agricultural products in different regions of Vietnam, such as fruits and seafood; long-term investment, stability, and sustainable development based on the spirit of shared benefits and risk sharing.
