Government Plans Export Reserves of Rice
The reserve could stabilize prices, but critics warn Cambodia's production capabilities will limit the amount of rice it can sell overs
The government will prepare a reserve rice stock of 2million tons for export overseas in 2009 in an effort to prevent price shocksand shortage rumors, officials said Thursday. Prime Minister Hun Sen in April ordered a temporary ban onrice exports, as a perceived domestic shortage of the staple drove prices in Cambodia'smarkets uncomfortably high. Ministry of Agriculture officials said during a riceconference Thursday they would seek to prevent a similar scenario in the futurewith their export stocks, which would be under the control of the Ministry ofCommerce. In March this year, as prices rose in Cambodia, other Southeast Asian nations soughtto buy up the stocks of rice producers like Thailandand Vietnam. Cambodiahas the capacity to export its own rice, said Chan Tong Yves, secretary ofstate for the Ministry of Agriculture. In the first nine months of 2008, Cambodian farmers exported5,400 tons of rice directly to the European Union and an unknown amount throughThailand and Vietnam, he said. However, Yong San Koma, president of the Cambodian Centerfor Study and Development in Agriculture, said he did not believe Cambodia couldset aside 2 million tons of rice for export. "We are not able to mill the rice for export," he said. "Untilnow, our capacity to export rice is still weak. I hope that in a few moreyears, we can solve this problem, if there is investment from the privatesector." Rice production in 2008 had decreased compared to 2006 and2007, he said.