Vietnam, Philippines agree to sign rice trade pact soon

Vietnam and the Philippines will soon sign a cooperation agreement on rice trade as a means to ensure food security amid recent developments in global food supply chains, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr. announced on Wednesday. Accordingly, the two countries will soon conclude an inter-government agreement on rice trade so that Vietnam’s rice exports to the Philippines can play a part in ensuring food security in the Philippines, ABS-CBN News cited PM Chinh. “We look forward to having a stable framework of cooperation on rice trade for a period of at least five years,” he told the Philippine leader. Such an agreement will help Vietnam ensure its rice production while facilitating the Philippines’ import from Vietnam, Chinh commented. Vietnam and the Philippines established diplomatic relations in July 1976 and the two nations entered a strategic partnership in November 2015.