RI asks Japan for rice aid

RI asks Japan for rice aid

TOKYO (AFP): The Indonesian government has unofficially asked Japan to send 500,000 tons of rice because a food shortage is looming due to a poor harvest and economic woes, a leading daily said Saturday.

Tokyo will start negotiations on the assistance as early as March after Jakarta makes a formal request, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

Indonesia's average rice harvest is about 34 million tons but the amount is believed to have fallen to 32 million tons last year due to drought, the economic daily said.

Concern over a possible food shortage is deepening with planned imports of rice covering only the first half of this year, it said.

The paper said it was unclear whether Japan would be able to send as much rice as requested since 500,000 tons in grant aid would cost it more than 100 billion yen (US$800 million), including transport.