Vietnam plans to expand its markets for flower export to countries inNorthern America as well as to central Europe , according to theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The major markets for Vietnam 's flowers are China , Japan ,Singapore , Australia and Arabia Saudi. The country earned 60million USD from flower export last year.

The country now has about 8,000 ha under flowers, mostly roses, daisies and orchids, yielding 4.5 billion stems a year.

Floweracreages are allocated in major urban areas of Hanoi , Hai Phong, DaLat (Lam Dong province), Ho Chi Minh City and nearby provinces.

About 1,000 ha of rose, daisy, peach, gladiolus and carnation flowers are grown in Hanoi and its nearby localities.

LamDong province in the Central Highlands has the largest acreage forflower planting with about 3,500 ha, exporting over 110 million stems ayear. The province plans to expand its acreage to 3,800 ha by 2015.

Accordingto Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, theprovince’s flower export value increased constantly in recent years,from 9 million USD in 2007 to 13 million USD in 2009 and 16 million USDin 2010.

The province exports flowers to Japan, the Republic ofKorea, Belgium, Thailand, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, ChineseTaiwan, Cambodia, France and the Netherlands.

MARD said thatexpanding flower acreage and increasing flower exports are prioritisedin the future development strategy of the agricultural sector.

Accordingto Nguyen Quoc Vong, Director of the International Development Centreunder Hanoi Agriculture University , Hanoi , Sa Pa (northernmountainous Lao Cai province), Da Lat and Moc Chau (northern mountainousSon La province), the Red river delta and Mekong delta havefavourable conditions for growing flower for export. Moreover, with goodexperience and technology, farmers could raise their income through theexport of flowers./.