The country earned 3.66 billion USD from exporting rice in the period, up 40.4% year-on-year, the ministry has reported. The result was attributed to the increasing price of Vietnamese export rice, and the decreasing rice supplies in many markets during the reviewed period, it said. The Philippines was the largest buyer of Vietnamese rice products in the first eight months, accounting for over 40% of the total rice export. China and Indonesia ranked second and third, respectively. Additionally, positive growth in rice exports has been also recorded in countries in the European Union, such as Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium, and African nations such as Ghana and Angola. The Vietnam Food Association said that, there is ample room for rice exports to grow, especially as the Philippines needs to import an additional 1.1 million tons, while Indonesia plans to buy 2.3 million tons by the end of the year. Vietnam is expected to pocket some 4.5 billion USD this year from the agricultural product’s exports, according to insiders./.