Page 88 - Regional_rice_report_with_full_bookmarks

PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

- Researching support policies for the development of deep processing of rice
products and by-products.

Market promotion and access:
• Intra-trade among three countries:

- Promote official trade between countries instead of unofficial cross-border trade
through national negotiation and cooperation mechanisms. Develop regulations
governing common traceability between 3 countries to monitor the origin of rice
trading among countries.
- Promote rice trade among countries in region: Developing high-quality standards
of rice (organic, GAP, etc) and applying it at regional level.

• High value-market access:

- Raising national standards for rice production for export, ensuring biological
criteria, and the level of preservatives as rigorous as the standards of difficult
markets such as the United States, Japan, EU, and Australia
- Encouraging and assisting businesses in using innovative processing technologies,
therefore enhancing the quality of export rice, and producing processed products
to fulfill the new demands of the worldwide market.
- Improving the capacity of market analysis and assessment, exchanging experiences
between businesses, uniting businesses in the countries (Lao PDR, Viet Nam,
Cambodia) to promote building markets and brands for rice products.

- Promoting regional cooperation in capacity building of national research
institutions, anticipating rice market demand research, and developing general
regime of sharing information among countries related to production, demand-
supply forecast, markets.

- Promote regional cooperation to research and assess potential market opportunities
under free trade agreements, thereby developing jointed cooperation plans
(which can be combined with Thailand) to promote rice exports to developed
and high-value markets.
Enhance regional cooperation to manage regional natural resources:

- Mobilizing multilateral cooperation among countries in sub-region and China
under Mekong River Commission (sharing water use plans, united water-regulating
system…). Each country should develop sustainable irrigation systems (canals,
freshwater reservoirs, etc.), advanced irrigation techniques
- Build and share agricultural water use plans in the flood season and dry season
with other countries so that they can jointly plan for rational water use and storage.

- Promoting a mechanism of coordination and information exchange between
Ministries of Agriculture, relevant ministries, and organizations. Exchange
information in forecasting weather as well as natural disasters because of climate
change (storms, floods, droughts...)

87