PM offers secure long-term rice supply to Bangladesh

Viet Nam was willing to provide Bangladesh with a long-term supply of rice to ensure food security in the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in Ha Noi yesterday.

Dung’s promise was made while he was receiving Bangladesh’s Minister of Food and Disaster Management, Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, who is on a visit to Viet Nam.

Dung also said that Viet Nam’s consistent policy was to promote ties with Bangladesh in various areas, particularly in economics, trade and investment.

Razzaque’s visit opened the prospect of fresh co-operation in trade and agriculture between the two countries, Dung said, of which the signing of the agreement on rice trade was an example.

He also highlighted the fact that trade turnover between the two countries remained low at US$400 million last year, leaving lots of untapped potential, especially in investment.

Dung recommended a joint-Government Committee of Bangladesh and Viet Nam to figure out specific and practical measures to further enhance trade links.

In return, Razzaque said Bangladesh, with a population of over 150 million, wanted Vietnamese enterprises to invest in their country, particularly in agricultural processing.

Agreement

Viet Nam and Bangladesh will boost their rice trade under an agreement signed yesterday in Ha Noi.

The agreement was signed between Minister of Industry and Trade, Vu Huy Hoang, and Bangladesh’s Minister of Food and Disaster Management, Muhammad Abdur Razzaque.

“This will help ensure stabilisation of the rice market and lessen any adverse effects of climate change, disasters and crop failure in either country,” said Hoang, predicting that trade and economic relations between the two countries would reach new heights.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said bilateral trade reached US$288 million last year, up 250 percent compared to 2009.

Viet Nam’s export items to Bangladesh were rice, steel, fibre and fabric, machines and devices, plastic materials and cell-phones.

Rice has emerged as the biggest item traded, reaching a volume of $120million in 2010, equivalent to 350,000 tonnes. Viet Nam is also gearing up to produce parboiled rice for export to Bangladesh.

In 2009, Bangladesh imported between 2-3 million tonnes of rice to ensure food security due to a rapid increase in population and natural disasters. – VNS

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