Thailand and China will sign a memorandum of understanding on rice
trading during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit today, but the document will
not contain a commitment from Beijing on the quantity of rice it wants to buy.
Commerce Minister Boonsong
Teriyapirom and his Chinese counterpart will ink the MoU, while Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra and Wen will witness the signing.
China will not specify an exact
import volume from Thailand, rice being listed as a sensitive product under its
commitments with the World Trade Organisation, a senior official said
yesterday.
Pranee Siriphand,
director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the MoU would not be a
final contract between the two countries, as officials would need to hold
further talks on China's placing an order to purchase Thai rice.
It should, however, guarantee that
Thailand is a priority country for China as and when it considers importing
more rice to supply its domestic market, she said.
China is already a major importer
of Thai rice. It imports a total of about 1 million tonnes annually, mainly
from Thailand and Vietnam.
However, Thai rice exports to
China dropped 57.8 per cent in the first 10 months of the year, to 91,460
tonnes.
Yingluck's government is facing
major political difficulties due to its price-pledging scheme for rice.
The administration wants to
release rice into foreign markets as soon as possible due to domestic market
pressures of oversupply and declining prices, as well as political pressure
from the opposition.
The Democrat Party will open a
censure-motion debate on the government's rice policy next week.
A report by officials said the
Commerce Ministry had previously requested Cabinet approval for signing an MoU
to supply at least 5 million tonnes of rice to China from 2013 to 2015, at
prices based on the market price at the time of shipment.
However, the Cabinet yesterday
approved the ministry's proposal to sign the MoU during Wen's visit without any
mention of the quantity of rice China might purchase.
The MoU indicates that both sides
will develop rice trading for the benefit of good relations and mutual benefit.
Both parties will cooperate on the basis of transparency, justness and fairness
between their rice-trading agencies.
The two governments will support
the proper management of rice trading in accordance with market principles,
according to the government document released after yesterday's Cabinet
meeting.
The MoU can be amended, or even
revoked, with the consent of the contracting parties, the document said.
Wen landed in Bangkok yesterday
for a two-day visit to firm up bilateral ties as a strategic partner of the
Kingdom.
His visit is regarded as a
balancing act to the high-profile visit by US President Barack Obama, who left
Thailand on Monday.
Wen begins his activities today
by jointly opening the Chinese Cultural Centre with Yingluck, before holding
discussions with her at Government House.
The two leaders will discuss a
wide range of bilateral and regional issues. Wen and Yingluck have both just
completed a series of meetings in Phnom Penh during the Asean summits.
The Cabinet yesterday approved
another MoU for the Foreign Ministry to sign with its Chinese counterpart on
the forging of cooperation and the promotion of bilateral relations.
Petchanet
Pratruangkrai and Piyanart Srivalo
Business & Investment Opportunities
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