ASEAN rice reserves may not go to Indonesia

ASEAN rice reserves may not go to Indonesia

HANOI (DPA): Emergency rice reserves held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to be used only as a last resort and cannot be counted on to alleviate near-starvation conditions in Indonesia, an ASEAN official in Vietnam said Friday.

"The current shortage of rice in Indonesia can be assisted by the supply of rice from other countries on a bilateral basis," said Dr. Suthad Setboonsarng, ASEAN deputy secretary general.

Suthad's comments were made at the 20th meeting of ASEAN agriculture and forestry ministers, who gathered Thursday and Friday in Hanoi.

ASEAN groups Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. All members are required to contribute to an emergency rice reserve as a form of regional food security.

Suthad said the reserve was still too small to handle major cases. "What is more important in ASEAN's food security in general is the arrangement of cooperation of food in ASEAN."

National shortfalls can be addressed by "better marketing and mobilization in the region," he said, but did not elaborate.

An Indonesian official in Hanoi said Vietnam is considering sending 400,000 tons of rice to Indonesia, but Jakarta is flinching at the deferred payments possibly required by Hanoi.

As many as 17 million Indonesian families are facing starvation as food prices skyrocket in the island nation, Food and Horticulture Minister A.M. Saefuddin admitted earlier this week in Jakarta.

"The development of agriculture provides a more sustainable basis for political and social stability," said Vietnam's agriculture minister Le Huy Ngo, who hosted the meeting.

The ASEAN ministers on Friday endorsed a plan on regional cooperation in food, agriculture and forestry as they ended a two-day meeting.

The Strategic Plan of Action for the 1999-2004 period identifies strategic action programs and activities in an effort to enhance regional food security and the international competitiveness of ASEAN products.

The plan endorsed by agriculture and forestry ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers also deals with sustainable utilization of natural resources and the involvement of the private sector, according to a joint press statement.

At their meeting, the ministers discussed the impact of the current economic crisis in the region on food, agriculture and forestry.

They expressed their concern over an increase in unemployment, poverty and in some cases shortage of food resulting from the crisis.