Viet Nam, Thailand eye sustainable rice markets

VIET NAM and Thailand, two of Asia’s largest producers and exporters of rice, have agreed to develop more sustainable rice markets and to increase the value of their exported farm produce, according to a report in VNA. Both countries grow similar rice seeds, and together dominate the global rice export market.

While this is true, Thai Minister Petipong Pungbun Naaydhya also said that the global price of farm produce is causing a drop in the prices of staples such as rice, fresh produce, sugarcane and rubber.  

In a meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture Cao Duc Phat in Hanoi on March 12, the Thai minister recommended the building of a strategy toward attaining a sustainable farm produce market for their long-term mutual interests. This cooperation, he said, will encompass defining grain standards, prices, and quality.

Minister Cao Duc Phat concurred that such cooperation would be beneficial to Vietnamese farmers, stating that Viet Nam has four million hectares of rice and one million hectares of rubber.