Rice export in 2001 and reserve-rice buying
April 4 (VNA) -- Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Cong Tan has instructed Mekong Delta provinces and businesses to efficiently organize the buying of 1 million tonnes of rice for temporary reserve in accordance with the Prime Minister's Decision.
Tan was chairing a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on April 4 with leading officials from Mekong Delta provinces, the Finance, Trade and Agriculture and Rural Development Ministries and food corporations to plan this year's rice exports and the buying of rice for a temporary reserve.
Tan assigned the Trade Ministry to distributing rice quotas allowing for the export of major portions of the rice bought for temporary reserve; and asked banks to provide businesses with loans to buy rice.
He said the State would reward those businesses that find new market for rice and told the Finance Ministry to consider the exemption of the Value Added Tax, VAT, on subsidiary products such as broken rice and postpone the collection of the agricultural land use tax.
The government agreed to establish bonded warehouses to help businesses export rice and to allow them to sell rice by instalment.
Mr. Tan stressed that parts of rice fields must be used to grow other crops or livestock breeding for higher profits, and high-quality rice chosen for export. He asked relevant ministries to devise plans for the trial production of hybrid maize, soyabean, cotton and high-quality fruit particularly pineapple.
He also wants trial dairy cow breeding.
The Trade Ministry reported that Viet Nam exported about 670,000 tonnes of rice and earned USD 114.8 million, in the first quarter of this year, year-on-year increases of 83 percent and 41 percent.
In implementing the Government's Decision 223/QD-TTg for buying 1 million tonnes of rice for a temporary reserve, businesses are buying rice for the purpose from March 10-April 30 at a floor-price of VND 1.300 a kilo.
The State will support businesses by subsidizing all interest payments for bank loans used to buy the reserve rice for the six months from March 10-Sept. 10. Businesses and localities have finished buying 60 percent of the reserve rice.--VNA
