Thailand remain no.1 rice exporters to HK

BANGKOK, July 16 (TNA) -- Minister of Commerce Ms Apiradi Tantraporn said that the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP)'s office in Hong Kong has reported that during the first four months of the year, Thailand has conitnued to remain as the top rice exporter to Hong Kong. Ms Apiradi said Thailand monopolised 59.5 per cent of the Hong Kong market for imported rice, ahead of Vietnam at 27.7 per cent and China at 4.8 per cent, respectively. The minister said Thai entrepreneurs should look for new market to rice exports to attract new customers for Thai rice consumption, particularly restaurants, as these would demand more products than regular households. She added that rice exporters should also increase rice product values by introducing new kinds of rice, such as healthy rice. In the mean time, the rice prices in Hong Kong have stabilised in April, with the price slightly increasing from the first three months of the year. To further increase rice exports, the ministry has asked DIPT and its office Hong Kong to promote the quality of Thai rice at the Food Fiesta 2016, along with organise a business trip for Hong Kong rice importers to visit Thailand, as well as cooperate with the Department of International Trade (DIT) in registering the green label Thai jasmine rice in Cantonese. The ministry is expecting Thai rice exports to Hong Kong to expand even further which in turn would help Thailand achieve its rice export targets of 9.5 million tonne this year. (TNA)