Thai officials are pushing to close a rice deal with China. Apiradi Tantraporn, Commerce Minister, will travel to China this week to sign the government-to-government, or G-to-G, deal.
Mrs. Apiradi will visit Beijing on Friday to speak to authorities about signing the deal for the sale of 1 million tons of rice. The rice deal is a part of the high-speed rail agreement between the two countries.
The Commerce Minister also hopes to persuade China to purchase other farm products, including tapioca and rubber, which are both in high demand.
Thai and Chinese officials signed a MoU (memorandum of understanding) back in December of 2014. Under the agreement, China will purchase 1 million tons of both old and new rice as well as 20,000 tons of rubber. The rice delivery was scheduled for 2016.
An agreement was signed late in 2015 for the sale of 1 million tons under the MoU.
Chutima Bunyapraphasara, commerce permanent secretary, said that although Thailand has made the decision to “wholly invest” in the high-speed rail project, they believe that China will still honor the agreement on the rice deal.
The Thai government will also complete the delivery to China of the final 100,000 tons of rice. The deal was struck under the previous government.
According to Ms. Chutima, a widespread drought may reduce global rice supplies, but Thailand will be capable of delivering over 9.5 million tons of rice in 2016…