Cambodian PM: Rice cartel to benefit regional, global food security

A Thai farmer plows his flooded rice field for a second cropping in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand in this May 4, 2006 photo. Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, is talking of forming an OPEC-style cartel with four of its Southeast Asian neighbors so that it has more control over the prices which have tripled this year.(AP)

PHNOM PENH, May 5 (Xinhua) -- An organization of rice exporting countries (OREC) will help make regional and global food price more stable in the future, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Monday at a university graduation ceremony.
Unlike the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), OREC would contribute to ensuring food price stability not just in individual countries, but to addressing the problem of food shortage in the region and the world, he said.
OREC won't hoard rice to raise prices when there is shortage, so people shouldn't be worried about the creation of OREC, he said.
Meanwhile, he clarified that he himself was the original creator of the OREC concept, as he first mentioned it in 2005 during a meeting of the OREC countries, namely Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
After all, Cambodia has two million tons of rice for export each year, while Thailand has 9.5 million tons, he added.
On April 30, in response to ever spiraling rice price, Thailandhighlighted the idea to establish OREC, which quickly resulted in widespread mixed reactions.
Cambodia surely appeared positive. Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Chan Sarun told a rural products exhibition in southern province of Takeo on Sunday that OREC aims for common price of rice in order to enhance their capability of rice production, help settle the world food crisis and increase incomes for their farmers.
During a meeting in Indonesia on Sunday, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) countries, including OREC themselves, agreed for cooperation to stabilize rice price.
However, on the same day during a meeting in Spain, Asian Development Bank's senior officials clearly opposed establishment of the OREC, citing that it contradicted the free spirit of market economy and would bring about disadvantages to both sellers and purchasers.
According to earlier reports, the OREC are now planning to meet as soon as possible to materialize the concept.
The rice exports of Thailand and Vietnam used to account for some 40 percent of the world's total annual export of rice. If Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are also included, the percentage will rise over 50 percent.
Rice price has been spiraling since 2008 and high-quality rice currently sells some 1,000 U.S. dollars a ton.
Editor: Du Guodong