Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 03:11:00 05/05/2008
MANILA, Philippines - The announcement by Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, that Thailand has revived its idea of a rice cartel and was close to forming the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries with four other Mekong Delta neighbors, is deeply disturbing. It tells us that Thailand, a close ally of the Philippines and once a force for moderation in Southeast Asian geopolitics, has succumbed to greed.
Thailand is the world's biggest exporter of rice; Vietnam is the second-biggest. (China and India are bigger producers, by far, but most of their production is consumed domestically). Even without the participation of the three other countries invited to join Orec-Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia and Laos-a cartel that includes Thailand and Vietnam will be certain to dominate today's international rice trade. The three other nations are there merely to disguise the true nature of this price-fixing scheme.
Fortunately, Hanoi is cool to the idea-a logistical nightmare at the best of times, a cruel joke on the world's poor population at this time of peak rice prices. Even more fortunately, many Thais are against the idea. The Bangkok Post, in an editorial, rightly asks whether the "dream of setting prices much higher could bring Thailand a lot of criticism for starving poor people."
The president of Thailand's own Rice Exporters Association sought to put the brakes on Samak's brusque idea. "We view the idea as impractical. It is impossible to fix rice prices. Rice is definitely different from oil because it is a sensitive product. In addition, it couldn't be kept as long."
The cartel doesn't have to work, however; its very existence, during a worldwide rice crisis, will be enough to cause Thailand's reputation great damage.
But apparently, Samak's government has been shopping the idea even with producers like India. He himself has tried to gloss over the cartel-like nature of the proposed alliance, refusing comparisons to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. "We don't aspire to be like Opec, but we hope to be just a group of five to help each other in trading rice on the world market," he told reporters.
Could Thailand define "helping each other" as fixing rice prices downwards? That's possible, but a Thai initiative to lower prices (which have already doubled since last year) will get Samak's political party in trouble with its base of rural farmers.
Which brings us to the point. Thailand's Orec proposal is motivated not by national interest but by political greed. As the Times of India noted in a report: "The Thai move is evidently aimed at buttressing the fortunes of the ruling party, which depends on rural support, by hiking support price for farmers." In other words, it makes political capital out of the world's current, rice-related misery.
The Philippines, which hosts the International Rice Research Institute, where Thai rice farmers learned the science of higher rice productivity, should demand a stop to the Orec initiative. It is not enough that we ask Thailand and Vietnam to guarantee the continued flow of rice imports; we must force Thailand to reconsider its proposal, because it is against the very spirit of Asean solidarity.
At the same time, the Philippines must devote its energies to achieving rice sufficiency soonest. We may be the top rice importer in the world, but we are not laggards in rice productivity; in fact, we have been increasing production since 1998. We simply have too many mouths to feed, and not enough land to grow rice on. But Thailand's Orec provocation should clarify our options, like a date with an executioner.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
To
subscribe to the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper in the Philippines,
call +63 2 896-6000 for Metro Manila and Metro Cebu or email your subscription request here.
Factual errors? Contact the
Philippine Daily Inquirer's day desk.
Believe this article violates journalistic ethics?
Contact the
Inquirer's Reader's Advocate.
Or write The Readers' Advocate:
c/o
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Chino RocesAvenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets,
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94
![Zoom Image](javascript:popwin("http://images.inquirer.net/media/opinion/inquireropinion/editorial/images/pic-05050720150758.jpg", 640, 480))
Zoom
