Vietnam, the world’s second-largest rice exporter, announced yesterday that it would increase exports of the grain by 1 million tonnes after determining the country had sufficient supplies for the domestic market.
The move comes after officials had limited rice exports this year to 3.5 million tonnes in a bid to keep domestic prices down in a period of soaring inflation and to ensure its stocks for local consumption amid the global food crisis.
“Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday ordered the acceleration of rice exports to help farmers sell all of their harvest and to contribute to providing supplies to the world market,” the government said on its Web site.
“After having been able to sufficiently balance domestic consumption for 2008, Vietnam is now capable of exporting a total of about 4.5 million tonnes of rice,” the government said.
Last month, inflation in Vietnam surged 25 percent from the previous year, driving prices for rice and other grains up 68 percent, Vietnam’s bureau of statistics said.
Speculation about a rice shortage fuelled a run on supplies of the grain at supermarkets in April.
But the government said the harvest “was very good this year, in the north as well as in the south.”
“Vietnam anticipates harvesting about 37 million tonnes of paddy [non-processed rice] in 2008, which is 1 million more tonnes than in 2007,” the government said.
Since January, Vietnam has exported more than 2.2 million tonnes of rice — 19 percent more than for the same period last year, government statistics showed.
That increase in rice exports, combined with worldwide spiraling inflation, has led to a sharp rise in revenues.
From January to last month, Vietnam earned US$1.2 billion off the exports — an increase of 94.1 percent over the same period last year, official estimates said.
World grain prices have risen sharply this year, a trend blamed on higher energy and fertilizer costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss of farmland to biofuel plantations, industry and cities, and price speculation.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source