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Asean backs rice action plan |
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Friday, 24 October 2008 |
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Reuters via Straits Times: Manila - Southeast Asian nations on Friday supported a rice action plan for the region, including boosting yields, using new technology and policy reforms in response to the rice price crisis early this year.
The measures were presented by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) during a meeting in Hanoi with officials of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), IRRI said in a statement.
It said Asean ministers unanimously endorsed the plan.
Asean includes the world's two largest rice exporters, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the biggest importer, the Philippines.
Mr Robert Zeigler, director general at IRRI, told the ministers the institute needed an additional US$15 million (S$22.6 million) a year over the next 10 years to support the rice action plan.
'At a time of trillion-dollar bailouts for the global financial sector, US$15 million a year is barely the annual bonus of a former Wall Street executive,' Mr Zeigler said in the statement.
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