The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development unveiled a logo to represent Vietnamese rice at a festival in the southern province of Long An on Tuesday evening.

The third edition of the Vietnam Rice Festival, lasting from December 18 to 24, saw the launch of the “Vietnam Rice” logo – meant to promote the country’s domestically grown rice to importers around the globe.

Beating out over 500 submissions to a contest held by the agricultural ministry, painter Nguyen Nghiem’s design – a rice flower styled to represent a Lac bird set against an ovular green backdrop – was chosen by the ministry and has become recognized by the National Office of Intellectual Property as the first official trademark for the national rice brand.

The Lac bird is a symbol meant to represent the ancient Vietnamese civilization.

This is Vietnam’s first attempt at building a national brand to promote its rice and build a relationship with consumers around the world since it first began participating in the global rice trade in 1989.

The logo is currently in the process of registering for international copyright protection.

Organizations, companies and individuals can use this certified logo on the condition that they have either a business registration certificate, an enterprise registration certificate, or an investment certificate mentioning the registration of rice production, processing and trading activities. 

Only white rice, white fragrant rice, and white glutinous rice that meet national standards will be permitted to be stamped with the logo. 

The Vietnam Rice Festival in Long An Province is currently hosting over 1,100 stalls for enterprises specializing in fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, agricultural materials, machinery and equipment, and industrial services for agricultural and rural development to promote their businesses to the public.

Several green agriculture, urban agriculture, and high-tech agriculture companies are also participating in this year’s festival.

A number of workshops held to discuss the problems and issues facing the country’s rice production and export industries are also being held in conjunction with the event.

A stall displays a variety of rice products at the Vietnam Rice Festival in the southern province of Long An on December 18, 2018. Photo: Son Lam / Tuoi Tre

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