Commerce Minister: Chinese company might tear up rice purchase contract made with Thailand

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Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisal has told the press that the Thai government’s Chinese trade partner is concerned about its rice trade with Thailand and might call off the rice deal after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) launched a probe into the rice pledging scheme.

The minister on Friday said the Pei Ta Hwang company, Thailand’s Government-to-Government trade partner in the rice support program, was concerned that its one-million-ton rice purchase contract with the Thai government might later cause problems. He concluded that the company’s posibility to cancel the contract was mainly due to the investigation into the program by the NACC.

In January this year, the government had already sold one million tons of rice in the rice pledging program, the minister said.