A special art performance featuring cultural characteristics of ethnicminorities groups in the Central Highlands opened the “Season welcome”festival on March 11, part of activities for the fifth Buon Ma ThuotCoffee Festival.

Nearly 900 farmers from Dak Lak,Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong along with numerous scientistsand coffee researchers attended the event to exchange knowledge andexperience in coffee production and cultivation techniques.

Theevent presented a venue for local farmers to introduce and popularisetheir coffee products to domestic and foreign markets, as well as a moresymbolic opportunity to demonstrate their gratitude to God for givingthem a peaceful year and express their hopes for an abundant crop.

On this occasion, 55 outstanding farmers were recognised for theircontributions to strengthening the Vietnamese coffee brand name in theinternational markets.

The fifth Buon Ma ThuotCoffee Festival, opened on March 10, has attracted hundreds of local andinternational businesses.

It is biennially organised topromote the Vietnamese coffee brand, honour coffee growers andpopularise the coffee culture and tourism attractions in Buon Ma Thuotcity.

In 2014, Vietnam produced over 1.37 milliontonnes of coffee, of which Dak Lak contributed over 450,000 tonnes. Lastyear's coffee export value was 3.4 billion USD.-VNA