Gia Lai (VNA) – The third Vietnam Coffee Day kicked off at Dai Doan KetSquare in Pleiku City in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai on December9, highlighting the country’s coffee-drinking culture.

The eventfeatured a series of events,including an exhibition on various coffee products from six top coffeeproducing provinces – Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Kon Tum and Son La.Hundreds of stalls displayed premium products from popular coffee brands like Vinacafe, L’amant, Nestlé, andKingcoffee.

It also provided a platform for domestic and foreign coffeegrowers, producers and businesses to meet and forge partnerships. They are expected to form sustained links throughall stages of coffee production to boost Vietnamese coffee’s reputation andvalue.

In his openingremarks, Vice Chairman of the Gia Lai People’s Committee Kpa Thuyen said coffeewas first bought into Gia Lai in 1975, and its productionstarted booming in the 1990s.

Gia Lai is nowhome to nearly 100,000 hectares of coffee plantations which produce about 220,000 tonnes of coffeeannually, he said. Most of the areas are grown in Bazan soil in the Pleiku Highlands, 600 – 800 metresabove sea level, that creates a strong unique taste for the coffee, he added.

Thuyen saidthe event aimed to invitecorporations, business leaders and organisations to the province to learn about the local culture, history andpeople and explore opportunities for partnerships andinvestment in coffee production and distribution.

GerandoPatacconi from the International Coffee Organisation (IOC) said over the lastthree decades, Vietnam has grown into a leading IOC member and the world’ssecond largest producer and exporter.

Vietnam is oneof the best success stories in the industry, he said.

On the sameday, a business matching eventwas held for local coffee producers and foreign importers. It was co-organisedby the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), the provincial People’sCommittee and the Vietnam Coffee – Cocoa Association (Vicofa).

Speaking atthe event, Vietrade deputy head Le Hoang Tai said coffee is among Vietnam’s keyagricultural products that has been exported to 80 countries and territoriesaround the world, such as Germany, the US, Spain, Italy, Belgium and the UK./.