Việt Nam will continue to supply rice to the Philippines through the exchange of notes and approval of exchange notes. – Photo kinhtedautu.vn

The Vietnamese Government has issued a resolution approving the extension of its rice trade agreement with the Philippine Government.

Under the resolution, Viet Nam will continue to supply rice to the Philippines through the exchange of notes and approval of exchange notes.

The Government has tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in co-ordination with the Ministry of Industry and Trade with finalising and sending exchange notes to the Philippines to extend the agreement and carry out relevant procedures.

The 2010 rice trading agreement, which is due to lapse on December 31, 2016, is expected to be extended for the 2017-20 period.

The Philippines is among the largest importers of rice from Việt Nam. However, rice shipments to the Philippines have experienced a downturn recently.

The Vietnam Food Association said domestic businesses have a chance to boost rice exports as the Philippines plans to import 293,100 tonnes of rice from Viet Nam to meet food demand during the 2017 between-crop period.

Last August, Viet Nam also won a bidding to provide 150,000 tonnes of rice to the Southeast Asian country.

Viet Nam-Philippines bilateral trade topped US$2.92 billion in 2015. It increased by 15.3 per cent year-on-year to $1.52 billion in the first half of 2016, including $1.08 billion of Viet Nam’s exports, up 17.5 per cent. – VNS