Vietnam and Indonesia agreed to sign rice trade pact amid the decline in Indonesian exports

Vietnam and Indonesia have agreed to sign a rice trade deal to strengthen long-term rice shipments and to ensure the food security of Indonesia since its deliveries fall in the first half of the year. The decision has been taken when Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 7.

Additionally, both leaders reasserted to facilitate market access and promote bilateral trade. The Vietnamese PM would instruct Ministry of Industry and Trade to work closely with Indonesian officials to open each other’s market access and promote bilateral trade. Moreover, he suggested that both countries to work unitedly to for devising an action plan to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership for 2025-30. He also highlighted the need to strengthen cooperation in the fields such as trade, investment, agriculture, digital economy, and energy.

In the first of the year, Indonesia has witnessed a sharp decrease in its deliveries from plummeted 97% to 19,000 metric tons. However, it has remained Vietnam’s significant markets for rice. Certainly, Vietnam is the world’s third largest rice exporter after India and Thailand, but Indonesia has cut down its purchases due to high domestic inventories.
Besides this, both leaders stressed on the need to work with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia that intends to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members) countries to boost multilateralism, cooperation, solidarity and the pivotal role of ASEAN, maintain and strengthen ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea situation and global and regional common affairs.