Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is planning to transform Thailand into an advance trading hub for rice in the ASEAN region, which is expected to stabilize prices of Thai rice in the world market.

The National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT) quoted Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives Niwat Sutheemeechaikul as saying that the advance trading scheme for Thai rice will be similar to those for para rubber and cassava, in which foreign buyers can pre-order them online. The move is said to centralize rice transaction across the globe, which reduces the likelihood of price fluctuation for Thai rice.

Niwat said once the trading scheme is in full operation, the prices of Thai rice will become comparable to those of its competitors like Vietnamese rice. Buyers will also have a chance to study the variety of rice in order to make a precise decision when choosing the type of rice they want to buy.

Moreover, farm products from Thailand , according to Niwat, will be exported without customs duty hassles when the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is formed in 2015. In order for Thailand to fully benefit from the AEC, the government is not only trying to push the country to become a farm product hub of the ASEAN region, but it also has its eye on the title of the world’s kitchen./.