THAILAND
THAILAND'S prime minister said his country had agreed in principle to form a rice price-fixing cartel with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia as costs of the staple have gone up.
The grouping of Mekong nations would be similar to the oil cartel Opec and would be called the Organisation of Rice Exporting Countries (Orec).
Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, shipped an estimated 9.5 million tonnes of the grain last year. Thailand has repeatedly insisted it will not limit exports, but on Tuesday the government announced it was releasing its stockpile of 2.1 million tonnes into the domestic market to keep prices stable.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
THE PHILIPPINES
President Gloria Arroyo said the Philippines will need to keep importing rice until at least 2013 to make up for a domestic shortfall despite plans to make the country self-sufficient. The Philippines has been importing rice for a long time, but soaring international prices make it imperative for Manila to consider growing enough to feed itself.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NORTH KOREA
North Korea again runs the risk of outright famine, 10 years after up to one million of its people died of starvation, a leading US think-tank, the Peterson Institute, said yesterday.
Food prices in the hardline communist state have almost tripled in the last year, the Institute said.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has also warned that time is running out to avert a humanitarian tragedy due to acute and worsening food shortages.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE