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ASEAN+3 agree on emergency rice reserve financing
Source: Xinhua
Time: 2011-Oct-6 11:40
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JAKARTA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 10 ASEAN member states plus the three nations of Japan, China and South Korea have committed to financing the soon-to-be signed ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) agreement, local media reported on Thursday.

The pact will be signed during the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting on Friday here.

The AMAF meeting organizing committee chairman, Ahmad Suryana, said on Wednesday after a Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) that each country would make different contribution to finance APTERR.

ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea will disburse 1 million U.S. dollars respectively for an endowment fund. Seven ASEAN members -- Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam -- will contribute 107,500 U.S. dollars each while Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will contribute 83, 000 US dollars each.

"The contribution is different for several countries due to their financial capacity," he said.

The members of ASEAN Plus Three have also agreed to prepare 300, 000 U.S. dollars to finance APTERR's office, he added.

A country had yet to be appointed to host the APTERR secretariat, he added.

Under the APTERR agreement, 13 countries should provide a rice stock of 787,000 tons to anticipate sudden instabilities in supply and production caused by natural disasters.

China, Japan and South Korea will prepare 300,000 tons, 250,000 tons and 150,000 tons of rice respectively, while ASEAN countries will prepare 87,000 tons.

"Thailand is the biggest contributor with 15,000 tons. Vietnam and Myanmar will each contribute 14,000 tons, while Indonesia and the Philippines contribute 12,000 tons each," he said.

Brunei, Laos and Cambodia will provide 3,000 tons each, while Malaysia and Singapore provide 6,000 tons and 5,000 tons respectively.

"The rice will be disbursed only if a natural disaster occurs," Ahmad was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

This year's AMAF Meeting, scheduled to be opened by Indonesian Vice President Boediono, will focus on food security strategies among ASEAN members, as well as China, Japan, South Korea and India.

The ministerial meeting among ASEAN members is scheduled to take place on Thursday. The ASEAN Plus Three ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place on Friday while the ASEAN ministers meeting with India's agriculture minister will take place on Oct. 8," Ahmad said.

Editor:Xu Rui
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