Thailand to materialize ASEAN rice trade partnership

BANGKOK, August 14 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Commerce will soon host a meeting of rice exporting countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), aimed to materialize a proposed plan on forming a regional rice trade partnership. Permanent Secretary for Commerce Yanyong Puangraj told reporters Tuesday that the Thai government is trying to develop the concrete cooperation among the ASEAN rice producing countries. Yanyong acknowledged his ministry's Department of Foreign Trade had earlier organized two meetings of ASEAN rice millers and traders and would invite relevant ministers from the five ASEAN rice producing countries, including Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, to the next meeting to discuss the cooperation, paving the way for food and energy security in ASEAN and Arabian Gulf countries in the future. Meanwhile, Thailand Trade Center in Mumbai reported that India's rice reserves had reached 32 million tons as of July 1, 2012, nearly three times higher than India’s required rice reserves of 11.8 million tons, enabling New Delhi's continual exports of grains. As of the end of June 2012, India exported 7.5 million tons of rice and grain exports of the large South Asian nation should amount to 9.4 million tons from September 2011 to September 2012. Rice prices of India and Vietnam stand around 400 US dollars per ton, which are lower than those of Thai rice and should, more or less, affect exports of Thai rice. (TNA)