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PH to ink rice deal with Vietnam during Marcos Jr. state visit: DA chief

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Passengers commute in tour boats passing rice fields along Ngo Dong river in Tam Coc, a part of the Hoa Lu limestone mountain range, around 120km from Hanoi, in Ninh Binh province, Vietnam, June 9, 2022. Luong Thai Linh, EPA-EFE/File." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2024/news/01/16/rice.jpg"/><figcaption>Passengers commute in tour boats passing rice fields along Ngo Dong river in Tam Coc, a part of the Hoa Lu limestone mountain range, around 120km from Hanoi, in Ninh Binh province, Vietnam, June 9, 2022. <em>Luong Thai Linh, EPA-EFE/File.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- The Philippines will formally sign a rice deal with Vietnam when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. travels to the major rice producing country by the end of January, Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said on Tuesday.</p><p>The Chief Executive had instructed agriculture officials to draft a memorandum of agreement during an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Japan, Tiu Laurel said in a press conference in Malacañang.</p><p>&quot;Pagdating ng trip this coming end of January, state visit to Vietnam, mapipirmahan na. We have the working draft already. It’s almost done,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;It basically guarantees that they will be supplying us rice continuously even sa calamity situations,&quot; he said.</p><p>Marcos Jr. and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh first agreed on the cooperation deal on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Indonesia last year.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/07/23/ph-vietnam-finalizing-5-year-rice-cooperation-deal">PH, Vietnam finalizing 5-year rice cooperation deal</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Our two countries will conclude an inter-government agreement on rice trade so that our rice export to the Philippines will ensure food security in the Philippines,&quot; the Vietnamese leader had told the Philippine President.</p><p>&quot;We look forward to having a stable framework of cooperation on rice trade for a long period of at least 5 years,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;With that we can ensure our production and you can also ensure imports from Vietnam,&quot; he added.</p><p>The move comes as the Philippines braces for severe droughts this year due to El Niño.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/19/23/marcos-jr-to-form-el-nio-task-force-as-ph-braces-for-droughts-in-2024">Marcos Jr. to form El Niño task force as PH braces for droughts in 2024</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The President has met with the cabinet 2 times last December to try to address the El Niño issue to have advance planning kung ano dapat gawin,&quot; Tiu Laurel said.</p><p>&quot;As far as supply is concerned, we have enough supply of rice,&quot; the DA chief also said.</p><p>The Philippines produced around 20 million tons of rice in 2023, and is expected to have &quot;almost the same&quot; amount in 2024 despite the looming El Niño, he said.</p><p>The Philippines imported some 3.5 million tons of rice in 2023 to augment the supply of the staple grain, Tiu Laurel said.</p><p>The Philippines can save some P10.5 billion annually if there will be no rice and corn wastage, he said.</p><p>When asked if the Marcos Jr. administration can still fulfill its campaign promise of pulling down rice prices to P20 per kilo, Tiu Laurel said: &quot;It’s an aspiration, it&#x27;s a target. We’ll try our best.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Mas maganda ang may goal para everybody tries to achieve it as hard as possible.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/15/24/deep-wells-solar-irrigation-among-interventions-for-rice-farmers-amid-el-nio">Deep wells, solar irrigation among interventions for rice farmers amid El Niño</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/12/21/23/cavite-nueva-ecija-provinces-experiencing-drought-pagasa">Cavite, Nueva Ecija provinces experiencing drought: Pagasa</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2622418" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Philippines will formally sign a rice deal with Vietnam when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. travels to the major rice producing country by the end of January.

PH to ink rice deal with Vietnam during Marcos Jr. state visit: DA chief

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PH to ink rice deal with Vietnam during Marcos Jr. state visit: DA chief

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 16, 2024 04:02 PM PHT

Read More:

Vietnam

Philippines

rice

Department of Agriculture

Francisco Tiu Laurel

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

ASEAN

agriculture

rice farming

Pham Minh Chinh

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