The Philippines has signed a government-to-government rice supply agreement that adds Cambodia to a list of potential suppliers of the grain, boosting its neighbour's ambitions to become one of the world's biggest rice exporter. But the Philippines has indicated it was sticking to a goal of producing enough rice for its needs by the end of this year, resorting only to imports to boost buffer stock.
The Philippines signed a memorandum of agreement this week allowing its state grain agency National Food Authority to import rice through Cambodia's state-run Green Trade for the next two years, said a statement from the Foreign Affairs department late on Friday. No volume was indicated. With the deal, Cambodia joins Vietnam and Thailand as potential rice suppliers of the Southeast Asian country, which is eyeing to import 187,000 tonnes this year.
That volume, down from purchases of 500,000 tonnes last year, may be the Philippines' last major import before it reaches rice self-sufficiency at the end of 2013. The country, the world's biggest rice buyer in 2010 with record imports of 2.45 million tonnes, purchased last year's supply mostly from Vietnam and some from Thailand. The Philippines has existing rice supply agreements with Thailand and Vietnam, the top two sellers of the grain globally. Its supply agreement with Thailand is set to expire this year.