Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on June 19 called on relevant ministries to work with enterprises to purchase entire commercial rice stockpiles from farmers and boost exports. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) were assigned the task to prevent a fall in rice prices and help farmers avoid possible losses. 

It is also hoped to contribute to increasing the supply of rice to the world market. PM Dung also asked the State Bank of Vietnam to instruct commercial banks to ensure a good supply of floating capital for rice exporters.

So far this year, Vietnam has shipped more than 2.2 million tonnes of rice abroad, an increase of 19 percent in volume and twice in value in comparison to 2007.

MARD reported bumper harvests of spring-winter rice crop across the country and summer-autumn rice crop in the south, thus bringing the total harvest to around 37 million tonnes this year, a year-on-year increase of over 1 million tonnes.

VNA