BANGKOK, 21 May 2012 – Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom has boasted that many foreign countries are keen to make government-to-government (G2G) purchases of rice from Thailand.
Following his visit to Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Boonsong said that Thai rice export under G2G contracts is expected to stand at over 2 million tonnes this year given many countries’ interest to purchase rice from Thailand and the signing of the MoUs with a number of foreign countries, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Minister explained that the soaring demand for G2G rice deals will push this year’s total rice export quantity up to 8.5-9 million tonnes.
Mr. Boonsong added that during his discussion with the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, he has proposed the five rice producers of the ASEAN region, including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, as a rice set up a reserve rice stock for the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
The UAE has agreed to the possibility of cooperation between ASEAN and the GCC and has assigned its Department of International Trade Negotiation to follow up on the progress.
