ASEAN to foster food exports to GCC
ASEAN nations in an initiative led by Thailand are aiming to intensify joint efforts in rice production to pave the way for more cooperation in food security with Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
According to Yanyong Puangrach, Thailand’s Permanent Secretary for Commerce, a tangible cooperative mechanism in rice market operations will be established that includes rice millers and rice traders from the bloc’s rice producing countries Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.
Thailand, currently the leading rice producer in the ASEAN bloc, will cooperate with neighbouring countries to increase their efficiency in rice production and explore investments in the sector, starting with Cambodia, the commerce secretary said.
In 2010, Thailand has already signed an agreement with Bahrain to set up a food security stockpile center for the GCC, and another agreement during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s visit to Bahrain in May 2012 on cooperation in food security, trade and investment in agricultural products and commodities, in particular halal food.
The initiatives are aimed at ensuring the food supply chain to the entire GCC region by using Bahrain as a gateway to reach other countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The UAE in particular is interested in boosting trade and investment with Thailand by forming more joint ventures in high-potential sectors such as food, spas and medical tourism, while urging the Thai side to further open its contract-farming sector to foreign investment.
ASEAN nations in an initiative led by Thailand are aiming to intensify joint efforts in rice production to pave the way for more cooperation in food security with Gulf Cooperation Council countries. According to Yanyong Puangrach, Thailand's Permanent Secretary for Commerce, a tangible cooperative mechanism in rice market operations will be established that includes rice millers and rice traders from the bloc's rice producing countries Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Thailand, currently the leading rice producer in the ASEAN bloc, will cooperate with neighbouring countries to increase their efficiency in rice production and explore investments in the sector, starting...
ASEAN nations in an initiative led by Thailand are aiming to intensify joint efforts in rice production to pave the way for more cooperation in food security with Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
According to Yanyong Puangrach, Thailand’s Permanent Secretary for Commerce, a tangible cooperative mechanism in rice market operations will be established that includes rice millers and rice traders from the bloc’s rice producing countries Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.
Thailand, currently the leading rice producer in the ASEAN bloc, will cooperate with neighbouring countries to increase their efficiency in rice production and explore investments in the sector, starting with Cambodia, the commerce secretary said.
In 2010, Thailand has already signed an agreement with Bahrain to set up a food security stockpile center for the GCC, and another agreement during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s visit to Bahrain in May 2012 on cooperation in food security, trade and investment in agricultural products and commodities, in particular halal food.
The initiatives are aimed at ensuring the food supply chain to the entire GCC region by using Bahrain as a gateway to reach other countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The UAE in particular is interested in boosting trade and investment with Thailand by forming more joint ventures in high-potential sectors such as food, spas and medical tourism, while urging the Thai side to further open its contract-farming sector to foreign investment.
