Newly confirmed DTI Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual met today, Feb. 2, with a high-level Cambodian delegation led by Madam Sreyroth, undersecretary of the ministry of commerce of Cambodia, and H.E. Chan Sokty, delegate of the Royal Government of Cambodia and CEO of state-owned Green Trade Co.
If ever the Cambodia rice deal will be pursued, Pascual said the importation arrangement can be done between the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) and its Cambodian counterpart Green Trade Co.
He said that a direct government-to-government transaction could mean cheaper costs in rice imports for the Philippines.
DTI Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo also shared that the delegation conveyed that they have been selling three million tons of surplus rice each year. The delegation wishes to increase milled rice export to the Philippines.
This time, Rodolfo said, Cambodia would like to have a steady market by directly exporting to the Philippines through PITC. A government-to-government arrangement is also being considered by the Cambodian delegation in light of the fact that the Philippines has already liberalized rice importation by replacing it with a 35 percent tariff.
The Philippines imported 3.79 million metric tons (MMT) of rice in 2022, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry. The 2022 importation was 37 percent higher than the 2.77 MMT recorded in 2021. Imports as of Dec. 29, 2022, totaled 3,791,878 MT, 83 percent of which or 3.16 MMT came from Vietnam.
In addition, Cambodia’s rice exports are geared for the EU markets. Thus, they are conducting a market survey in the Philippines to further diversify their export market. They are also producing different varieties of rice, including high-quality rice.
Pascual said the DTI was the first stop of the Cambodian delegation’s mission in the Philippines on the ASEAN country’s efforts for the export potential of rice as half of its annual production is already surplus.
“They just requested to call on me,” he said.
“They want to export here because their rice seeds were sourced from the Philippines 20 years ago,” said Pascual.
Source: Manila Bulletin
February 06, 2023
