Thai delegates to hold rice talks with Manila

Thai delegates to hold rice talks with Manila

BANGKOK (Reuters): Thai trade officials may hold talks in
Manila later this month to sell rice to the Philippines,
officials at the Thai commerce ministry said on Monday.

"The Thai trade delegation led by Karun Kittistaporn,
director-general of the commerce ministry's foreign trade
department, is scheduled to hold rice talks with Domingo
Panganiban, newly installed Agriculture Secretary," an official
at the Thai commerce ministry told Reuters.

Panganiban is also acting administrator of the Philippine
state-trading firm, National Food Authority (NFA).

The Thai commerce ministry proposed the meeting to be held
January 25 to 26. The NFA has yet to confirm the meeting,
officials said.

The Philippines is expected to import about 400,000 tons of
rice this year because of a shortfall in its domestic production.
Shortfalls have forced the country to import rice in recent
years.

Philippine President Joseph Estrada has recently approved the
initial import of 200,000 tons of rice by the NFA.

A Vietnamese delegation from state-owned Vietnam Southern Food
Corp was believed to have already arrived in Manila, trade
sources said.

"I heard that the Vietnamese officials were already in Manila
and would start negotiating soon to sell rice to the
Philippines," a trader at a major trading firm said.

Thailand and Vietnam compete neck-and-neck in the rice export
market. Last year, Thailand exported some 6.6 million tons of
rice while Vietnam, the world's second leading rice exporter,
shipped some 3.5 million tons.

Competition in the rice business this year is expected to be
more fierce than in 2000 due to anticipated abundant supplies of
the commodity in major producing countries and surplus stocks in
importing countries, traders said.