PH eyes sealing rice pact with Vietnam during Marcos state visit

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16) — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the government is finalizing the working draft on the rice trade deal with Vietnam as President Ferdinand Marcos is set to visit the country by the end of the month.

At a Palace briefing on Tuaesday, Tiu said the government is targeting to have the agreement signed during the chief executive’s state visit to Vietnam.

“There was an agreement to draft the MOA or MOU, and we were given instructions, when we were in the ASEAN meeting in Japan, by the president to draft, finalize the MOA with Vietnam,” he said when asked for updates, referring to a memorandum of agreement.

“So that pagdating ng trip this coming end of January, mapirmahan na, and we have the working draft na, almost done na,” Tiu added.

[Translation: So it can be signed during the trip this coming end of January, and we have the working draft already, it’s almost done.]

This cooperation was floated on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Indonesia last year.

READ: Marcos eyes deals with Vietnam, Cambodia for rice supply amid El Niño threat

The Palace previously said Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed a five-year rice importation arrangement.

“The suggestion of a longer-term arrangement is an important one because just having that as an assurance will stabilize the situation, not only for the Philippines but for all of us in the region,” Marcos told Chinh at that time.