Vietnam to sell rice to Iraq

Vietnamese firms have won a bid to sell 50,000 tons of rice to Iraq, according to the Vietnam's Food Association Friday.

The 5-percent cracked rice will be sold at 270 U.S. dollars per ton, the association said, noting that Iraq is likely to ask Vietnam to provide additional 150,000 tons of rice in the near future.

The Vietnamese government has recently decided to export 5 million tons of rice at most this year, a move to ensure the country's food security.

Vietnam sold overseas over 2.2 million tons of rice valued at 600 million U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, posting year-on-year decreases of 4.2 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

The country, which shipped abroad more than 5.2 million tons of rice worth 1.4 billion dollars in 2005, has set the target of producing 38-39 million tons of paddy rice in 2006.

Source: Xinhua