JAPANESE RICE ARRIVES

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ The ceremony of presenting sixteen thous. tons of white rice within the project “Food aid Grants KR-1” of Japanese Government ran November 6. Present were vice minister of Industry and Agriculture B.Tsogtgerel and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Mongolia Mr Takenori Shimizu. Mongolia imports all rice, for example, 12 thous. tons were brought last year, Mr Tsogtgerel noted. White rice together with wheat for food, granted as aid, support an increase in main food products supply, and these 16 thous. tons of rice will provide 40 percent of the domestic demand and will serve as a mechanism to stabilize prices, he said. The Ambassador Shimizu said this rice costs 14.1 billion togrog, "since the Mongolian economy has been developing rapidly, this nonrefundable food aid may become the last one." The project “Food Aid Grants KR-1” has been implemented since 1991. Every year, some 16 thous.tons of rice is supplied to Mongolia. Apart of it, in frames of "KR-2" project, aimed at food supply improvement, agricultural equipment was given to Mongolia. Ch.Enkhtuya