The Department of Foreign Trade (DFT), which is pursuing a mission to expand the market for Thai agricultural products, has recently held trade shows in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR to promote Thai rice and tapioca.
DFT Director-General Ronnarong Phoolpipat said the first event took place in Hong Kong from May 31 to June 2, where 16 rice exporters from Thailand met with key importers to discuss business opportunities.
Thailand in the first four months of this year exported some 50,000 tons of rice to Hong Kong, representing a 12% year-on-year decrease. Thailand, however, remains the top rice exporter in Hong Kong, despite the decrease in volume.
The second event took place in the Chinese capital Beijing from June 11-15, where government officials and private firm representatives from both countries held talks on rice deals.
Both sides agreed to investigate fake documents involved in the export of fake Thai Hom Mali rice by Chinese manufacturers. Meanwhile, Thai rice exporters also discussed with China’s state-owned COFCO group the remaining 280,000 tons of rice from Thailand, according to an existing government-to-government deal.
Thai exporters in the first 4 months of this year shipped some 130,000 tons of rice to mainland China, a 46% decline from last year. The visiting Thai delegates in Beijing on this occasion held talks with importers of tapioca products in China to better understand demand and boost confidence in the quality of Thai tapioca. China is the top export market for Thai tapioca products, with some 8 million tons shipped there every year. (NNT)
