Thaksin seeks new markets for rice exports

Thaksin seeks new markets for rice exports

BANGKOK (AP): Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Friday Thailand would need to expand its rice exports to new markets and might agree to special financial conditions to facilitate trade with potential customers.

Thailand is the world's top rice exporter with exports of 6.71 million tons in 2000 and an export target of around 6 million tons set for this year.

The government, which holds rice stocks resulting from market intervention, will need to find new strategies covering rice production and marketing, Thaksin told reporters after chairing a regular meeting of the Rice Policy Committee.

He said he has asked the Finance Ministry to study the possibility of letting countries that cannot pay in dollars pay in their local currency.

That money would be used to pay for goods Thailand would buy in the future from these countries, he added.

"By using this method we will be able to speed up the expansion of our exports into new markets," he said.

He declined to name countries that could be included into that scheme or when such deals could be agreed.

However, other senior Thai officials earlier said that Thaksin was targeting the scheme at some countries including Russia and North Korea, which need rice but may have difficulties buying in dollars and still owe debts to Thailand for previous rice shipments.

Rice stocks now held by the Thai Government amount to around 400,000 to 500,000 metric tons.

Thaksin also said that the Government had decided to stop buying newly milled rice as "that type of intervention did not provide any real benefit to rice farmers."

The intervention and stockage of the rice could also result in a drop in quality as the rice is sometimes kept for too long, he said.

However, Thaksin said that the Government would continue intervening in the paddy market until the end of the month.