Indonesia mulls importing rice from many countries (Photos: thejakartapost.com) Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodo said on September 11 that the country is eyeing rice imports fromIndia and China to meet the rising domestic demand.
The president revealed that Indonesia currently has twomillion tonnes of rice in the government’s rice reserves, which is enough for meeting thecurrent needs.
However, he said, imports are still necessary to deal withthe impact of El Nino this year and to secure supplies for up to next year.
The president acknowledged that he discussed with some Asiancountries’ leaders including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Bangladeshi President Mohamed Shahabuddin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier LiQiang about opportunities to import rice.
He announced that Indonesia has signed acontract to import 400,000 tonnes of rice from a number of countries, mainlyfrom Cambodia. The order will arrive in the country in the coming days.
The Indonesian governmentpreviously announced a policy to support 210,000 tonnes of rice for impoverished peoplein three months, starting from September 1./.
