Phl to rely on rice imports from Vietnam, Cambodia
PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam is ready to let the Philippines import rice as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. acknowledged that food supply is a 'main issue' in the Philippines.
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Daily TribunePM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam is ready to let the Philippines import rice as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. acknowledged that food supply is a 'main issue' in the Philippines.
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In a separate bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Hun Manet here in Jakarta, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. opened up the possibility of sourcing rice from Cambodia to the Philippines. Photo from PCO.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – The Philippines and Vietnam are working on a 5-year agreement to improve rice output and food security in the two Southeast Asian nations, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Thursday.
During their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, the Vietnamese leader told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that his country is ready to help the Philippines obtain food security and boost rice production.
"Our two countries will conclude an inter-government agreement on rice trade so that our rice export to the Philippines will ensure food security in the Philippines," he told Marcos Jr.
"We look forward to having a stable framework of cooperation on rice trade for a long period of at least (five) years," the Vietnamese official added.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh then said that Vietnam "will ensure" its rice production and told Marcos that the Philippines can also ensure imports from its neighboring country.
Marcos Jr. then noted that his Vietnamese counterpart was ready to let the Philippines import rice as the Philippine leader acknowledged that food supply is a "main issue" in the Philippines.
"In Asia, food supply is very much determined by rice and the prices," Marcos said.
The Philippine president then expressed his optimism that both his country and Vietnam would have "very fruitful" arrangements.
Rice imports from Cambodia
In a separate bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Hun Manet here in Jakarta, Marcos opened up the possibility of sourcing rice from Cambodia to the Philippines.
Marcos then asked for Cambodia's support in making things easier for rice importers so that there would be a steady rice supply after typhoons hurt rice production in the Philippines.
Initially, business-to-business sales deals between Cambodian-based firm Khmer Foods company and rice importers in the Philippines resulted in the export to the Philippines of about 2,500 tons of rice in May this year.
This was the first time the Philippines is importing a significant tonnage of rice from Cambodia after the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019, which liberalized rice trade in the Philippines and allowed private entities, instead of the government, to import rice from any country, subject to compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary requirements and import duties.
Cambodian officials say that by 2024, they want to have a 1 percent share of the imported rice market in the Philippines. They have urged stakeholders to keep exporting rice to the Philippines and even increase the amount Cambodians export.
*Aviation*
With regard to civil aviation cooperation, both countries agreed to expand the direct flights between the Philippines and Cambodia given the improvements in the COVID-19 situation and easing of restrictions.
"…I shall, as my homework when I get back, look into the possibility of our airline increasing the number of flights to other destinations in Cambodia that we would like to go to. This is something that goes both ways," the President also said.
The President also mentioned the cultural, educational, and people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and Cambodia that could be enhanced further.
"I'm very proud of our overseas Filipino workers and the teachers who have gone abroad and places. Many who've come from my part of the country and we have been able to assist our allies and our partners in terms of exchange of culture and the like," Marcos said.
