BANGKOK, 24 May 2013 The Commerce Ministry is considering a quick approach to selling the rice in the government’s stock after the baht continues to rise.
According to Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce Watcharee Vimooktayon, as the currency surge shows no sign of abating, the Ministry will be looking for new buyers overseas in an effort to relieve the amount of rice in the government’s stock.
Mrs. Watcharee said the stronger baht has made it difficult to maintain the amount of rice expected to be sold to another foreign government under the G2G scheme. The Ministry of Commerce is now aiming at selling a larger volume of rice as it would be more strategically reasonable to buyers.
More attractive proposals will be adopted to attract new buyers to buy Thai rice. Among several countries interested in Thai rice at present, said the Permanent Secretary, are those in Africa.
The Department of International Trade Promotion is also urging foreign governments that have entered into the G-2-G agreements with Thailand to quickly follow through with their purchase. The amount of rice to be sold under the latest deal is estimated to be around 7.3 million tons.
