Vietnam province expects to rake in $2bn annually from ginseng export by 2030
Vietnam province expects to rake in $2bn annually from ginseng export by 2030
Vietnam’s government has green-lighted an ambitious proposal to grow Panax vietnamensis, or Vietnamese panax, in a huge area of one central province, which the project planner firmly believes will yield up to US$2 billion in annual export revenue.
Panax vietnamensis is locally known as Ngoc Linh ginseng, a name derived from the fact that the plant is primarily found on Mount Ngoc Linh in Nam Tra My District of Quang Nam Province.
In Vietnam, Ngoc Linh ginseng is considered a prized herbal medicine, and therefore very commercially valuable.
The administration of Nam Tra My District has prepared an ambitious project to attract businesses to grow ginseng, particularly the Ngoc Linh species, on a 15,000 hectare area in the locale, and has recently received a go-ahead from the government.
“By 2030, Vietnam will be able to produce 500 to 1,000 metric tons of ginseng a year, raking in $1.5-2 billion from exports,” Nam Tra My chairman Ho Quang Buu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
Buu is the main author of the project, called “Preserving and Developing the Ngoc Linh Ginseng Area by 2030,” which requires a huge investment of VND9 trillion ($401.79 million).
“Such a huge amount of money will be earmarked for the 15-year course of the project,” Buu said, when asked if the project is too costly.
“It should be noted that we will source VND7 trillion [$312.5 million] from private investors, and the state budget only covers VND2 trillion [$89.29 million].”
Buu expressed his strong belief that the project will be effective if properly implemented, with profits from growing ginseng able to rise ten-fold after only five years.
Many ginseng growers in Tra Linh Commune of Nam Tra My have reaped more than VND30 billion ($1.34 million) after five years, with an initial investment of only VND3 billion ($134,000), he elaborated.
Nam Tra My is in fact the poorest among all districts across Vietnam, with 62.9 percent of local households living in poverty.
“But there are still 30 billionaires in the locality, who earn their wealth from ginseng,” Buu said. “So I do not think new businesses will not be able to gain similar success.”
The Vietnamese ginseng has many valuable medicinal properties and is considered one of the five best ginseng species in the world, the official said, citing Vietnam’s National Institute of Medicinal Materials.
“But Vietnam has yet to make the best use of the commercial value of the plant,” Buu said.
“In HamYang, a mountainous South Korean district, where the weather is even harsher than Nam Tra My, people are still raking in billions of U.S. dollars by exporting ginseng every year.”
Buu said some preparatory works of the project have already been started.
A 50km road is being built to connect Nam Tra My District to Mount Ngoc Linh, while some 15,000 hectares of forests have been cleared and are ready to be transferred for growing ginseng there.
Buu said nearly 20 businesses have signed up for the ginseng-growing project.
The administration of Quang Nam Province is also poised to hold an international ginseng festival in the future to showcase its Ngoc Linh ginseng to businesses around the world, Buu added.
“It will be a chance for Vietnamese businesses to seek international partners and investors,” he said.
“During our recent survey trip to Hamyang, many South Korean businesses said they are willing to invest in growing ginseng in Vietnam if the government has a mechanism for them to do so.”
