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Thai govt to give 30,000 tons of rice to Haiti

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:25:50 +0000

BANGKOK, 20 January 2010 (NNT) – The government will transport about 30,000 tons of rice to help Haitian victims in the beginning of September 2010 after a magnitude 7.0 quake rocked the Caribbean country of Haiti on 12 January.

As the chair of the Haiti Donation Center, Prime Minister’s Office Minister Virachai Virameteekul stated that more than 30,000 tons of rice worth 300 million THB would be sent to the country by ship early February. He elaborated that the donation would be transported three times.

Mr Virachai added that the Thai government would give assistance to Haiti continuously ranging from urgent aids to long-term rehabilitation.

The short-term assistance includes 33 million THB cash donation given to the Thai Embassy to Mexico City to purchase medical supplies and other necessities. The long-term relief will include road and telecommunication reconstruction and medical staff provision under the cooperation frame of the UN and World Health Organization.

The minister also invites all Thai people to donate their money in order to aid all victims in Haiti via the “Ruam Nam Jai Chao Thai Chual Phu Prasoppai Haiti fund (Thais help Haitian victims fund),” the Krung Thai Bank’s Government House branch, savings account No. 067-0-05765-7, from now on.

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Rice production focus as Thai PM visits Vietnam next week

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:15:46 +0000

BANGKOK, July 3 (TNA) – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will pay a one-day official visit to Vietnam on July 10 to strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations, particularly regarding rice production cooperation, according to Deputy Secretary to the prime minister Dr. Panithan Wattanayagorn.

Dr. Panithan, also acting government spokesman, said the trip was also considered as an introductory trip for the Thai prime minister, who assumed office in December last year.

Mr. Abhisit and his entourage were scheduled to leave Bangkok early next Friday morning and would return at 10.55 pm the same day.

During the visit, the prime minister would pay a courtesy call to Vietnam’s President Nguyen Minh Triet, meet his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung and Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Secretary-General Nong Duc Manh.

Both sides were expected to discuss the ways to strengthen the bilateral relations and to carry on existing policy on each nations and to adjust and modernise the ties between the two countries, said Dr. Panithan.

The main concerns to be discussed by the two prime ministers are trade, investment, tourism, transport and communication.

“The main focus will be … rice as Thailand and Vietnam are the number one and two producers respectively among the world’s top rice exporters, and Thailand is planning to ask for the cooperation from Vietnam to set up regional rice stock partnership,” he said.

However, this initiative will depend on the prospects for rice production in Vietnam as the country’s volume of domestic consumption is still high and a lower volume is planned for export, he said.

There will also be discussion on increasing the land area dedicated to rice production, Dr. Panithan said. (TNA)

Govt to hold Thai-Vietnamese ministerial meeting on rice exports next year BANGKOK, 8 November 2009 (NNT) – The government is preparing...
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Rice Price Guarantee Scheme

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:25:52 +0000

Rice mortgage is one of many methods the government uses to assist farmers by manipulating rice prices. However, there are problems found in the government rice mortgage scheme, including produce adulteration and price arbitrage. The government by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva therefore initiated the idea to use a rice price guarantee scheme instead of the existing rice mortgage scheme.

Under the rice price guarantee scheme, farmers are required to register and sign a lowest-price guarantee contract with a branch of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives in their area. During the price guarantee period, if the market prices of rice are lower than the guaranteed prices, farmers participating in the scheme will receive the price differentials. On the contrary, if the market prices are higher than the guaranteed prices, the farmers will be allowed to sell their produce in the market as usual. In other words, the rice price guarantee scheme is similar to typical insurances—an insurance buyer will be compensated if problems arise. But if there are no problems, the insurance buyer’s premium will be considered as hedging costs. Such costs can in a way prevent the farmers from dishonestly reporting their rice stocks to the government.

The rice price guarantee scheme is also less complicated than the rice mortgage scheme and it gives fixed rice prices the farmers will sell their produce at. The rice price guarantee scheme also rids the government of the necessity to use warehouses to store rice or to process the produce as common in the mortgage scheme. It can therefore be concluded that the rice price guarantee is an effective method to prevent corruption and distortion of the market mechanism and at the same time assure the farmers that they will sell their produce at reasonable prices.

However, the rice price guarantee scheme may cost the government dearly if the market prices are much lower than the guaranteed prices. The scheme also requires clear and easy methods to inspect farmer registration and the government needs to be able to clarify details of the scheme to farmers to prevent misunderstandings.

President of the Horticulture Association of Thailand Dr. Anant Dalodom warned that flaws of the rice price guarantee scheme might cause damages to the agricultural sector although it seemingly had more pros than the rice mortgage scheme. He suggested that the government should clearly set the guaranteed prices and premiums paid by the farmers with the government subsidizing the premiums at the early stage of the scheme.

The rice price guarantee scheme can effectively assist farmers and indirectly expand the nation’s rice plantations as it was designed to increase farmers’ profits from rice sales.

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NRPC: Rice mortgage quota raised to 6 million tons

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:37:04 +0000

BANGKOK, 4 June 2009 (NNT) – The National Rice Policy Committee (NRPC) has resolved to raise the rice mortgage quota from 4 million tons to 6 million with a total budget of 24 billion baht.

After presiding over a two-hour meeting of the NRPC today, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said a conclusion on the mortgage quota for off-season paddy had been reached. He announced an increase of the quota from the previous 4 million tons to 6 million tons, which to be accepted at an unchanged rate of 11,800 baht per ton. The Prime Minister stated that a 24-billion-baht budget would be provided by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives and that the mortgage period would run until July 31, 2009.

Among those attending the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu, Commerce Minister Pornthiva Nakasai, Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot and Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut.

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