MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia is targeting major markets in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Bangladesh for grain exports in the new marketing season that began on July 1, the head of Russia's agricultural export development center (Agroexport) said on Thursday.

Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, is seeking to diversify agricultural exports beyond traditional buyers such as Egypt and Turkey, which periodically ban imports to support domestic producers. Last season, Russia quadrupled wheat supplies to Vietnam.

"Our goal now is to enter the Southeast Asian market. This includes not only Vietnam and Bangladesh, but also Malaysia and the Philippines. These are large countries with significant purchasing power and significant grain imports," Ilyushin said.

Bangladesh became the third largest buyer of Russian wheat last season.

Russia expects a 4 percent larger grain harvest in the 2025 season, reaching 135 million tons, despite drought in some areas. It plans to export 45 million tons of wheat this season, compared to about 44 million tons last season.

Eduard Zernin, a member of the Russian Union of Grain Exporters and CEO of Bio-Ton Agricultural Holding, said that Russia will likely face strong competition from Australia, the United States, and Canada in Southeast Asia.

"This is a powerful group of ambitious competitors. They have their own goals, objectives, and ways of doing business. We need to be prepared for even more intense competition," he explained.

(Prepared by Sherine Abdel Aziz for the Arabic edition - Edited by Ayman Saad Muslim)