Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The government is considering importing 500 thousand tons of rice from India following weeks of flooding in Thailand, a Trade Ministry official said.
"India has offered to sell 500 thousand tons of rice to us. We are still considering the offer," Director General of Foreign Trade at the Trade Ministry Deddy Saleh was quoted by News Kerala as saying on Friday.
India offered a business-to-business scheme to sell the rice and therefore, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) needed to adjust to the scheme, he said.
He said Indonesia was also looking into the possibility of importing rice from Cambodia and Pakistan to meet its rice import target for 2011.
The government plans to import 1.6 million tons of rice from Vietnam and Thailand this year.
As per October 2011 Bulog has imported 536 thousand tons of rice, less than a half of 1.2 million tons under a contract signed with Vietnam. Meanwhile, the government has canceled a plan to import 300 thousand tons of rice from Thailand.
Earlier, Deputy Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said the government would make every effort not to import rice any longer in 2012.
"Admittedly, Indonesia will still have to import rice this year to meet domestic needs because of uncertain season causing a number of rice-producing regions to see harvest failure.
Therefore, he added every rice producing regions including Southeast Sulawesi province would hopefully contribute to the national rice stocks.
Rice is the main staple food in the country with a population of more than 200 million.(*)
