Thai Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn plans to have a working visit to Beijing on May 13 to work with Chinese officials to speed up the sale of 1 million tons of rice to China.

Thailand and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on providing 1 million tons of old and new rice along with 200,000 tons of rubber for China in December 2014.

Thai rice. Photo: thairiceexporters.or.th

The MoU was part of the high-speed rail plan. Delivery was scheduled for 2016.

After China, the Thai minister will visit South Africa and Mozambique in June to promote rice deals.

Thailand currently has 11.4 million tons of rice in its stocks.

According to the Commerce Ministry, Thailand shipped 2.85 million tons of rice in the first three months, up 34 percent from the same period last year.

Source: VNA