HANOI, Dec. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam has produced 820,000 tons ofsalt so far this year, 20,000 tons higher than the original target,Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday.

    In 2004, the country exported its first batches of around 30,000 tons of salt to the Republic of Korea, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia, the report quoted the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Agro-forestry Products Processing and Salt Department as saying.

    To put an end to the import of over 100,000 tons of industrial salt annually, the government will offer incentives to salt producers to apply technological advances and develop farms to turn out 900,000 tons of salt in 2005, the report said. Enditem