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.