Illustrative image (Photo: The Nation of Thailand) Hanoi (VNA) - The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has urged Thailand to increase food exports to prevent global shortage.
According to Poj Aramwatthananont, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the OPEC’s recent meeting, which was attended by 21 member countries, had estimated that the COVID-19 outbreak will cause disruptions to the global food supply chain and affect global food security until 2022.
The Nation of Thailand on August 15 quoted Poj as saying that this is a good opportunity for Thai exporters to expand the markets, which will require strict compliance with international food safety standards.
The private sector is preparing to sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with ministries of Commerce, Public Health, Agriculture and Cooperative, and Interior to obtain related certifications for Thai products to be exported overseas, to increase the confidence of foreign customers, he added.
He stressed that these MoUs are also a start of aggressive measures to prevent the contamination of food products with the COVID-19 virus and other germs that could unexpectedly disrupt our food industry.
Meanwhile, Anong Phaijitpraphaphorn, director of the National Food Institute, said the institute expects food exports in the second half of 2020 to expand by 3.6 percent year on year to around 519.4 billion THB (16.54 billion USD), as the demand for food will start climbing once economic activities return to normal globally.
Thailand’s total food export revenue in 2020 is expected to hit 1.025 trillion THB, 0.8 percent higher than last year, provided the baht does not get too strong or fluctuates too much, she said./.
VNA
