VFA: Vietnam to attend Philippine rice tender

Farmers harvest paddy (unhusked rice) in the Mekong Delta. Vietnam will join a tender to supply 250,000 tons of rice for the Philippines - PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH

CAN THO - Vietnam will join a tender to supply 250,000 tons of rice for the Philippines, Huynh The Nang, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), confirmed to the Daily.

The National Food Authority (NFA) of the Philippines last week announced a decision to call for bids for supply of 250,000 tons of 25% broken rice. The deadline for submission of bids is 10 a.m. on July 25.

Winning bidders will have to deliver rice to the Philippines in August and September, which coincides with the lean season.

The Philippines is expected to spend 5.6 billion pesos to buy this volume of rice under a government-to-private (G2P) contract to guarantee competition and prevent corruption, instead of government-to-government as previously.

At a recent conference on rice trade in Can Tho City, VFA chairman Nang said Vietnam might be selected to provide rice for the Philippines as the current rice stocks of Thailand, the major rival of Vietnam, total only 160,000 tons.

In addition, Thai rice prices are higher than Vietnam’s, so chances are Vietnam can win the tender.

Rice stocks in the Philippines, one of the world’s largest rice importers, have dipped to the lowest level in three years, and are enough to meet the demand in just six days.

This will be the first Philippine rice tender this year.