The Commerce Ministry will host two big rice seminars this month, targeting more than 1,500 rice traders and experts, in an effort to maintain Thailand's position as the world's leading rice supplier in terms of both quality and volume.

Pranee Siriphand, deputy director general to the Foreign Trade Department, said the two seminars would brainstorm ideas for development of the rice industry, as well as emphasise Thailand's status as the world's rice trading centre.

The "Thailand Rice Convention 2011" will be held on June 20 in Bangkok, while the "World Rice Standard Summit 2011" will be organised in Nakhon Sawan province in the upper Central region from June 1923.

Many experts and traders from overseas have been invited to the two events. Participants are expected to come from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, China, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Senegal, which are rice importing countries. There will also be representatives from Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, which are rice exporting nations.

Pranee said Thailand would also brainstorm on how to increase efficiency and fairness in rice trading. The government plans to set up a central market and futures market to emphasise Thailand's position as the world's rice trading centre. It will also focus on how to increase innovation in rice production and tighten cooperation with other rice trading nations.

Source: The Nation