Egypt to import 1 million tonnes of Vietnamese rice. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Cairo (VNA) – Egypt has reached agreement with Vietnam to import 1million tonnes of rice in three to four months, the country’s electronicnewspaper Ahram reported.
“Thevisit of the President of Vietnam to Egypt resulted in a trade cooperationagreement involving the supply of 1 million tonnes of white rice, with theagreement coming into force next week”, the newspaper cited head of ricedivision of the Egyptian Federation of Industries Rajab Shehata as saying toReuters on August 30.
The amount, which will be transported to Egypt in various batches over thecourse of three to four months, will strengthen India’s strategic reserve ofrice for the next year.
The newspaper said in an attempt to rationalise the use of water resources,Egypt has reduced the area allowed for rice cultivation, and imposed tough newpenalties on farmers who illegally grow rice.
Traders said that the policies pushed Egypt to import up to 1 million tonnes ofrice next year.
Shehata said that import is the responsibility of the government, not theprivate sector. He did not mention the import price of Vietnamese rice but saidthat it would be cheaper than that from China.
Egypt consumes some 3.3 million tonnes of rice per year.-VNA
VNA
