A Cambodian woman cleans rice for her daily meal at Tram Knar village in Kampong Speu province about 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday March 29, 2008. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday May 5, 2008 that a proposed OPEC-style rice cartel in Southeast Asia would ensure global food security, rejecting concerns that it would increase hunger and poverty. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Rice-exporting nations planned to discuss a proposed cartel to control the price of the staple food Tuesday, a day after a regional development bank called for sharper fiscal policies to help a billion poor people in Asia cope with skyrocketing food prices.
Underscoring the fallout from price rises that have sparked food riots in Haiti, Egypt and Somalia, the Asian Development Bank said its growth estimate for Asia this year would be cut if prices continued to rise, and that next year would be even worse, erasing the gains made in recent decades across the region.
"Their purchasing power has been eroded, placing them at greater risk of hunger and malnutrition," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said of Asia's poor, as the bank opened its annual two-day meeting in Madrid.
The rice market plunged into uncertainty Monday when the Philippines, the world's biggest importer, failed in an attempt to boost its stocks of the Asian staple.
The tender to increase its buffer stock attracted only one bidder, indicating a tightness in global exports, which could push prices even higher, traders said.
On the other hand, the Philippines' decision to delay another tender until prices dip could temper prices because of a lower immediate demand for the grain.
Rice exporters Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar planned to meet Tuesday to discuss a proposal by Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, that they form a cartel.
Ahead of the meeting, whose venue was not immediately announced, the countries sought to assuage concerns that they might force up prices by limiting supplies.
Unlike the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the purpose of the rice cartel would be "to contribute to ensuring food stability, not just in an individual country but also to address food shortages in the region and the world," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday.
"We shall not hoard (rice) and raise prices when there are shortages," Hun Sen said.
The Philippines wasn't convinced.
"It is a bad idea. ... It will create an oligopoly and it's against humanity," Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Philippine Senate's Committee on Agriculture, said Friday, adding that the cartel could price the grain out of reach for "millions and millions of people."
Malaysia was considering banning locally grown rice from being taken out of the country to prevent shortages, a Cabinet minister said Monday.
The move was aimed at cracking down on shoppers from Singapore and Thailand who have been taking advantage of cheaper rice and other food items in neighboring Malaysia. Malaysia is not a rice exporter and imports about 30 percent of its needs, but local rice is cheaper than in neighboring countries.
On Saturday, the Asian Development Bank announced emergency funding to help poor countries struggling with rice prices. But it warned that the price of rice and other farm products could keep rising and that would stifle economic growth in the region.
Kuroda, the bank's president, said that a continued rise in food prices would cut growth this year in Asia by just over 1 to 1.5 percentage points, with cuts of 3.4 to 4.2 percentage points next year, depending on whether the increases also triggered inflation and further fuel price rises.
Underscoring the fallout from price rises that have sparked food riots in Haiti, Egypt and Somalia, the Asian Development Bank said its growth estimate for Asia this year would be cut if prices continued to rise, and that next year would be even worse, erasing the gains made in recent decades across the region.
"Their purchasing power has been eroded, placing them at greater risk of hunger and malnutrition," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said of Asia's poor, as the bank opened its annual two-day meeting in Madrid.
The rice market plunged into uncertainty Monday when the Philippines, the world's biggest importer, failed in an attempt to boost its stocks of the Asian staple.
The tender to increase its buffer stock attracted only one bidder, indicating a tightness in global exports, which could push prices even higher, traders said.
On the other hand, the Philippines' decision to delay another tender until prices dip could temper prices because of a lower immediate demand for the grain.
Rice exporters Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar planned to meet Tuesday to discuss a proposal by Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, that they form a cartel.
Ahead of the meeting, whose venue was not immediately announced, the countries sought to assuage concerns that they might force up prices by limiting supplies.
Unlike the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the purpose of the rice cartel would be "to contribute to ensuring food stability, not just in an individual country but also to address food shortages in the region and the world," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday.
"We shall not hoard (rice) and raise prices when there are shortages," Hun Sen said.
The Philippines wasn't convinced.
"It is a bad idea. ... It will create an oligopoly and it's against humanity," Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Philippine Senate's Committee on Agriculture, said Friday, adding that the cartel could price the grain out of reach for "millions and millions of people."
Malaysia was considering banning locally grown rice from being taken out of the country to prevent shortages, a Cabinet minister said Monday.
The move was aimed at cracking down on shoppers from Singapore and Thailand who have been taking advantage of cheaper rice and other food items in neighboring Malaysia. Malaysia is not a rice exporter and imports about 30 percent of its needs, but local rice is cheaper than in neighboring countries.
On Saturday, the Asian Development Bank announced emergency funding to help poor countries struggling with rice prices. But it warned that the price of rice and other farm products could keep rising and that would stifle economic growth in the region.
Kuroda, the bank's president, said that a continued rise in food prices would cut growth this year in Asia by just over 1 to 1.5 percentage points, with cuts of 3.4 to 4.2 percentage points next year, depending on whether the increases also triggered inflation and further fuel price rises.
2 comments:
OREC is the way to go for Cambodia. It will motivated government and farmer to work together to develop the rural area to its max. We still have a long way to go; therefore, we must get rolling now.
OREC will make Ah Xen controle on farmers will make them porrer by no wloow to growe rice! It is communist stated of mind!
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