PM vague on details of new farm produce deal with China

China is reported to have agreed to buy another large amount of farm produce from Thailand – a million tonnes of rice and 200,000 tonnes of rubber annually for an unspecified period – under a special deal.

The orders are in addition to the first million tonnes of rice over a five-year period agreed under a memorandum of understanding signed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his official visit over the past weekend, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday.

She was quoted by Government Spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi as telling Cabinet before yesterday’s weekly meeting that the extra deal resulted from “good relations” between Thailand and China, enhanced by Li’s visit to Thailand from Friday to Sunday.

Yingluck has assigned three ministries and the Council of State to study future crops and more legal deals that may encourage further opportunities in coming harvest seasons.

The PM appeared lacking in details to back up her statement about the special deal with China when asked by reporters to elaborate after the Cabinet meeting was over. She said she did not know at what price the rice and rubber would be sold to China under the deal, and that the Commerce Ministry would hold a press conference to explain it.

Yingluck was asked also about a seminar on the government’s controversial rice-pledging programme, which brought heavy criticism from prominent panel speakers. Former finance minister Pridiyathorn Devakula had said the two-year scheme had seen a loss of Bt425 billion. Yingluck replied that she did not have enough information to comment on Pridiyathorn’s figure but the Commerce Ministry would supply details at a future press conference.

She said the Cabinet yesterday had not discussed a plan to obtain Bt270 billion to fund the rice-pledging scheme for future crops.