Vietnam sells rice to Comoros
(VOV) - Vietnam will supply 60,000 tonnes of rice to the Comoros annually under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice trading signed recently between the two countries.
The first shipments will be sent in August 2013 and the last in December 2015.
Signatories to the MoU were Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang and the Comoros’s ambassador to Beijing, Mahmoud Aboud.
The MoU is expected to lay a legal foundation for trading rice directly between Vietnam and the Comoros, contributing to strengthening bilateral trade ties.
Ambassador Aboud said despite being a small African nation, the Comoros imports around 70,000 and 80,000 tonnes of rice every year, and everyone consumes on average 100kg per year.
He said apart from rice, Vietnam can export its garments, construction materials, automobile parts, motorbikes, and agricultural machinery to this market.
The ambassador expressed his hope that Vietnam will share its experiences in developing the processing industry, expanding cooperation in science and technology, and boosting coordination among small and medium-sized enterprises in producing agricultural machinery, with the Comoros.
Shipping rice to the Comoros is of great significance for Vietnam’s rice exports to Africa which currently accounts for around 20% of the country’s annual rice export turnover, he stressed.
Vietnam is one of the world’s leading rice exporters, helping ensure food security in the region and the world.
This is Vietnam’s third MoU on rice trading with African nations, after those with Sierra Leone and the Republic of Guinea.