Hanoi has agreed to help fund an entrance fee to enable Vietnam, the world's top grower of black pepper, to join the International Pepper Community (IPC), an industry official said on Tuesday.
"With the government coming in, there will be more opportunity for the sources of funding," the official said. It was unclear if Hanoi would foot the entire bill or only part.
Last October the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) said the government had agreed in principle for the association to join the IPC, but the association was required to fund the membership fee of around $60,000 per year on its own.
That proved difficult for the group and delayed its entry into the Jakarta-based IPC.
"But this time the government's approval is different. It says it will join the IPC and the pepper association will be on behalf of the government," said the VPA official, adding the government gave its fresh approval last month.
She said the government has asked the agriculture ministry to complete preparations, so the accession into the IPC could take place "at the day possible".
Established in 1972, the IPC has five full members: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Papua New Guinea is an associate member.
Vietnam emerged as the world's top exporter of the spice in 2001.
It attended an IPC meeting in India last year as an observer. The country exported 18,000 tonnes of pepper in the first quarter of this year, up 23 percent from the same period last year.
In 2004, Vietnam is projected to ship 75,000 tonnes of the spice out of the forecast output of 90,000 tonnes, compared with 74,400 tonnes shipped last year, government figures show.
In addition, the VPA has said around 10,000 tonnes are exported annually to China but that the volume is not included in government statistics.
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