HÀ NỘI — The 10th Vinacas Golden Cashew Rendezvous will take place in Hạ Long in the northeastern province of Quảng Ninh this October, according to the Việt Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas).

Nearly 500 businesses from 50 countries and territories are expected to attend.

Vinacas will hold exchanges and dialogues among domestic and foreign cashew enterprises along with a workshop on development strategies, a seminar on cleaner production and a forum on the quality of imported raw cashew nuts.

The conference aims to support trade exchanges and promotions for businesses to expand their markets and increase farmers’ incomes.

In 2018, Việt Nam’s cashew sector is focusing on quality rather than quantity to reach an export target of more than US$3.7 billion, about 65 per cent of total global export value.

Vinacas forecasts the sector will enter a new period of development in 2019 with the building of a production value chain and deployment of measures to increase quality and processing and trace origins, raising trade value to $4 billion.

The first Vinacas Golden Cashew Rendezvous was held in the southeastern province of Bình Phước in 2008. Two years later, Việt Nam became the world’s leading exporter of cashew nuts.

Việt Nam exported 141,000 tonnes of cashew in the first five months of 2018, raking in more than $1.39 billion, according to the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The figures rose 21.4 per cent in volume and 25.3 per cent in value on-year.

In May alone, 35,000 tonnes of cashew were exported with revenue of $330 million, up 8.8 per cent in volume and 6.4 per cent in value compared to the previous month.

Export prices hit an average of $9,867 per tonne in January-May, up 3.2 per cent year-on-year.

Vietnamese cashews are sold in more than 90 countries and territories. The country hit a record in 2017 with 353,000 tonnes of cashews shipped overseas for $3.52 billion. — VNS