Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said she will discuss the plan to set up an Asean rice trading company with her Vietnamese counterpart during this month's Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting.

The meeting is scheduled for Aug 20-27 in Vietnam.

“Commerce ministers of Laos and Cambodia have proposed that Thailand and Vietnam, as the two major rice producers of the world, should take a leading role in dusting off the plan,” Mrs Porntiva said on Thursday.

The idea to jointly set up a rice trading firm comprising key rice producers in Asean, aiming at boosting and stabilising rice prices, was proposed by Thailand at the AEM meeting in Bangkok last year, she said.

The plan had not progressed because several countries do not have enough rice warehouses and rice mills, she added.

These problems will be addressed and discussed at this month’s meeting, so the plan can move  ahead,the commerce minister said.

Source: Bangkok Post