Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit (Photo: bangkokpost.com) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand has sealed a deal with China to export 590 million USD worth of cassava to the Eas Asian country, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit said during a visit to China on September 21.
Jurin was leading a delegation to the 16th China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The agreement was signed with four major Chinese companies which import both cassava chips and flour to Guangxi, a new market for Thailand's cassava export industry, Jurin said.
Normally, China imports about 7 million tonnes of cassava roots worth around 20 billion THB (656 million USD) every year from Thailand. However, last year China imported only 3 million tonnes from Thailand, he said, adding Thailand is now urging China to resume previous importation quotas of 2.6 million tonnes of cassava chips and 80,000 tonnes of cassava flour worth 18 billion THB in total.
Talks were also held regarding the implementation of a previous memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed when China agreed to import 2 million tonnes of rice from Thailand, he added.
So far China has imported only 700,000 tonnes of rice, which has left 1.3 million tonnes yet to be exported to fulfil the agreement.
A follow-up discussion was also conducted on another Thai-Chinese MoU on China's agreement to import 200,000 tonnes of rubber from Thailand, he added. So far, only 16,800 tonnes of rubber has been exported to China under this agreement. It is not clear why import targets have not been met./.
VNA
