Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 H’Hen Niê participates in the 7th Buôn Ma Thuột Coffee Festival held in 2019. VNA/VNS File photo

HCM CITY — The 8th Buôn Ma Thuột Coffee Festival will take place in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk from March 10-14.

The festival themed “Buôn Ma Thuột - Destination of the Coffee World” will promote Buôn Ma Thuột’s coffee brand and develop Vietnamese specialty coffees, said Nguyễn Mạnh Hà, Chairman of the Đắk Lắk Province’s People’s Committee at a press conference held in Hà Nội on Friday.

It will honour domestic coffee growers and businesses as well as bolster the image of attractive tourist destinations in the province.

"In its eighth edition, the festival will be extended to a larger scale, featuring 18 major events held in Buôn Ma Thuột and many localities across the province," said H’Yim Kđoh, deputy chairwoman of Đắk Lắk Province’s People’s Committee.

"A coffee exhibition, a workshop on the development of high-quality Vietnamese coffee, and an international business matching event are some major activities to be held during the five-day festival," she said at another press conference held in HCM City.

A contest of video clips introducing Buôn Ma Thuột coffee, art photo exhibitions on Vietnamese coffee culture and world coffee history, and contests of blending specialty coffees and making fine art products from coffee trees are also included.

Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 H’Hen Niê continues to take a role as a communications ambassador of the festival this year.

Coffee has become one of the country’s key export commodities, ranking second in terms of turnover only after rice, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Việt Nam exported 1.68 million tonnes of coffee of all kinds with a total value of over US$3.9 billion last year.

Regarded as the “Capital of Coffee” in Việt Nam, Buôn Ma Thuột has the largest coffee farming area of 210,000 hectares with annual output of more than 520,000 tonnes or 30 per cent of the country’s annual yield. — VNS