If plans push through, the Philippines has secured its source of imported rice.
The Presidential Communication Office (PCO) in a statement said that in separate bilateral meetings yesterday, Vietnam has offered a five-year rice importation arrangement with the Philippines while Cambodia targets to capture 1 percent of the rice imports of the country by 2024.
PCO said President Marcos Jr. met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at the sidelines of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Summit and related Summits in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The President welcomed the proposals amid the current volatility in rice supply. A price ceiling on rice is in effect to address rising cost of the grain.
The PCO said the Vietnamese Prime Minister recommended that the “Ministries of Trade and Agriculture of the two countries will work together so that we can come up with a five-year agreement on supply of rice and actually… the rice will be determined by the market.”
Marcos, who welcomed the idea, saying “the suggestion of a longer term arrangement is an important one because just having that as an assurance will stabilize the situation, not only for the Philippines, but for all of us in the region.”
He recalled that the Philippines and Vietnam previously had a long term rice supply agreement and expressed confidence “that we will once again come to a consensus and agree.”
The President was referring to the Memorandum of Agreement on the Supply of Vietnamese Rice to the Philippines where Vietnam sold up to 1.5 million metric tons of Vietnamese rice to the Philippines from 2008 to 2010.
PCO said despite the enactment of the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act 11203 that liberalized commercial rice importation by the Philippines, Vietnam continues to supply about 90 percent of the Philippines’ rice imports.
In the first five months of this year, the Philippines imported 1.5 million tons of rice from Vietnam, worth $772.4 million.
Apart from rice importation, the President and the Prime Minister also discussed possible fishery and maritime cooperation to protect the livelihood of the ordinary fisherfolk.
The President, in a meeting with Manet raised the possibility of sourcing rice from Cambodia, boosting commercial aviation between the two countries through the establishment of direct flights as well as strengthen partnership in food security, trade and commerce, and people-to-people exchanges.
PCO said Marcos asked the Cambodian government to ease the terms and conditions for rice importers in the Philippines to ensure a steady supply of the staple coming into the country.
In May this year, Cambodia exported 2,500 tons of rice to the Philippines.
PCO said “Cambodian officials said their country is targeting to get a one percent share of the market of imported rice in the Philippines by 2024 and encouraged stakeholders to sustain and make more efforts to increase rice exports to the Philippines”.
Marcos and Manet also discussed a possible civil aviation cooperation, as 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.
The President said he will discuss with concerned officials and airline firms about the possibility of increasing the number of flights to other destinations in Cambodia.
He said the Philippines and Cambodia can also enhance cooperation in cultural, educational, and people-to-people exchanges.
