HANOI (Commodity Online) : World’s fifth largest Tea producer, Vietnam still needs more investment in the sector to boost production constrained by a lack of funds, said Vietnam Tea Association.

in a statement issued here Vietnam Tea Association, said the country was now the fifth largest tea producer in the world and had the right conditions for healthy tea cultivation.

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However, despite many government incentives, the sector had not developed to its full potential due to limited investment, it added.

Vietnamese officials and investors discussed a draft policy at a seminar here to attract more capital to the tea sector and promote Vietnamese tea products on the global market.

With more funds, the sector will be able to grow higher quality tea varieties, modernise processing technology and boost exports, the draft policy said.

Vietnam's tea sector comprizes 675 companies and around 400,000 households. There are about 130,000 hectares of tea planted around the country, but the output is still low, estimated at 160,000 tonnes of dried tea a year.

Vietnam exported 97,000 tonnes of tea in the first nine months, earning $127 million, up 14 percent from the same period last year. Tea exports account for about 80 percent of the country's total production.