Five Asean Nations May Form Rice-Trade Body, Thai Official Says

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Five Southeast Asian nations may set up a rice-trade association next year to cooperate in stabilizing rice prices, a Thai official said.

Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will also cooperate on other issues related to food security and production, said Chiya Yimvilai, a spokesman at a meeting of Asean economic ministers in Bangkok. The countries would also work together on developing rice products, he said.

“It won’t be like OPEC,” said Chiya, speaking at a press briefing. “Our objective is to help prevent prices from falling too much, but we won’t jointly set the prices.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net