Vietnam PM Says Boosting Purchasing Unmarketable Rice

Vietnamese Prime Minister has asked provincial Mekong Delta authorities and local companies to boost buying rice which have been unsold over the several past weeks in order to ease difficulties faced by local farmers.

 

During a meeting August 7 on boosting purchasing summer-autumn rice in Mekong Delta provinces, PM Dung asked the Southern Food Corporation and the Northern Food Corporation to buy 400,000-500,000 tons of summer-autumn rice in August while ensuring sufficient rice for export under already-signed contracts.

 

Mr Dung instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to control over the corporation’s purchase

 

Mr Dung urged local exporting companies to speed up rice delivery in August and September and seek for new contracts in order to fulfill set target at 4.5 million tons in 2008.

 

The State Bank of Vietnam also instructed its commercial banks to provide enough capital at reasonable interest rates for local companies to buy rice.

 

Especially, PM Dung decided to halt imposing rice export tax on contracts with export prices below US$800 a ton, on FOB base.

 

Vietnam’s government set target to export between 4 and 4.5 million tons of rice in 2008, and 3.5 million tons by late September. But in the first seven months of this year, the country exported only 2.7 million tons.

 

Decreasing rice prices at the global market and high lending rates discouraged local companies to buy rice from farmers, causing abundant rice in the country’s rice hub. (The People, Saigon Liberation)