Commerce Ministry sets up ‘war room’ to boost exports
The Commerce Ministry has joined the private sector in setting up a “war room” to work on boosting the export of rice and cassava, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said on August 26.
The move is to boost Thailand’s annual shipments and maintain the export level at 4.28 per cent, which was achieved in July.
“Apart from the income guarantee scheme for farmers, for which the government has allocated Bt21 billion, we will also look for ways to boost the export of rice and cassava because shipments have dropped in the first half due to the stronger baht,” Jurin, who is also deputy PM, said.
The key target markets for rice export include Iraq, China, the Philippines and Japan.
Iraq has historically been a market for Thai goods, but it was recently affected by the poor quality rice that was exported, which also damaged bilateral ties. However, he said, the government is working on restoring ties by working closely with Iraqi government agencies and boosting government-to-government trade in agricultural products, he said.
As for China, a memorandum of understanding has been signed for Thailand to export a million tonnes of rice to China per year. For this year, 300,000 tonnes still remains to be shipped. The Commerce Ministry is also preparing to negotiate a new deal, urging China to purchase more Thai jasmine rice in the future.
The Philippines, meanwhile, has recently started a quota system for private companies in the Philippines to purchase rice from overseas. The Commerce Ministry will act as a medium for the private sector of both countries to engage in business deals and boost Thai exports to the Philippines.
As for the Japanese market, the ministry has already called on Japan to boost its quota for Thai rice.
Meanwhile, the issue on top of the agenda at the war room was cassava, and the participants studied the potential of China and India.
The mainland is a good potential market for cassava, especially since the vegetable is widely consumed in the south of China.
India too is a largely untapped market, he said, adding that the ministry will actively meet with importers and pair them up with exporters to boost the Kingdom’s shipments in the future.
