Here is a plate of dried tea. It is one of key items for export from the northern province of Thai Nguyen. — Photo thuonghieu24h.com.vn

THAI NGUYEN (Biz Hub) — Thai Nguyen Province has set a target of US$27 billion in exports by 2020 to become the leading exporter in the northern mountainous region.

Under the province's economic development plan, from now until 2020, exports are expected to grow by 9 per cent per year, with export turnover per capita averaging $20,000 per year by 2020.

In order to reach the goal, the province has developed a strategy to produce key items for export, including electronic and hi-tech products at Samsung facilities based in the Yen Binh Industrial Zone, along with varieties of dried tea.

As the nation's second largest tea grower, Thai Nguyen aims to ship 10,000 tonnes of tea abroad in the next four years, based upon it maintaining growth of 13 percent annually.

Thai Nguyen will also encourage local garment producers to invest in machinery and technological innovations to improve not only their production capacities, but also sharpen competition for their products in an attempt to penetrate US and EU markets.

By 2020, the province seeks to generate $360 million from apparel exports, accounting for more than 70 per cent of its total export turnover.

Meanwhile, the locality is also expanding its marketing of mechanical products to Europe and Latin America, hoping to increase its exports by 14 per cent per year.

Nguyen Ngo Quyet, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said the local export revenue per capita neared $14,000 in 2015, a five-fold increase from the country's average.

The General Department of Customs' statistics reported that Thai Nguyen was among six localities that recorded exports of at least $10 billion in 2015.

The province's export turnover saw a strong increase of more than $8 billion, from approximately $7.93 billion in 2014 to greater than $15.97 billion last year. With this increase, the province became the nation's fourth largest exporter, just behind HCM City, Bac Ninh and Binh Duong.

The province's major export markets include the US, the EU, Taiwan, Japan and Russia, Quyet said, adding that the province will continue shipping goods to new markets, such as Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia, as a move to increase the value of its exports. — VNS