THE Foreign Trade Department will lead a delegation of rice exporters to China to promote imports to that country as part of its plan to release rice from government stockpiles and stabilise the price of the commodity for the long term.

Thai rice exporters will join the China-Asean Expo in Nanning, capital of Guangxi in southern China, from September 16-19 to promote imports.

Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of the department, said Thailand needed to sell more rice to China, which is currently the world's largest rice importer with an average volume of 2.95 million tonnes a year.

"China is a high-potential rice market for Thailand. Vietnam is now the largest supplier of rice to China with about 66-per-cent share, followed by Pakistan at 22 per cent. Thailand has only 10 per cent," she said.

As the price of Thai rice is not too high and is competitive with other countries, she said this was the perfect time to promote export growth and regain market share in China and other places.

Thailand used to be China's largest rice supplier. However, shipments to China declined during the past two years because of the rising price of Thai rice driven by the government's pledging scheme.

The China-Asean Expo aims to promote trade between China and Southeast Asian countries. It is a leading international trade exhibition in southern China.

This year, China is expected to import up to 1 million tonnes of rice from Thailand under a memorandum of understanding.

During this month's mission, department officials and exporters will meet with Chinese importers to urge them to buy more rice from Thailand.

The Commerce Ministry will also work closely with Chinese rice traders to deal with the problem of mixing Thai rice with inferior grades, which is bad for the reputation of the genuine commodity.

Duangporn said Thailand would draw up strategies to restore the famed image of Thai rice in China by encouraging consumers to check carefully for the Thai rice certification mark.

Source: The Nation