Rice Price - UP not Down.

Strange.  Hundreds of thousands of tonnes and rice has flooded the country, but the World Food Programme says the price is going UP and not down....Money well spent.

Lets Talk about Rice Baby, Lets Talk About you and Me. From 120,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes.

The Minister of Rice Version 2.o (the first being Senhor Bano) is in Vietnam while the Bere Scandal unfolds in Dili. While attention is elsewhere, massive contracts are being signed, for equally massive amounts of rice. The rice is worth between 60,000,000 and 180,000,000 USD depending on the deal that was struck. Emphasis on "deal".

While the President, Provedor, Media, Opposition have all called for a review/investigation into last years rice deals, more rice deals are being inked. All under the nose of Ho Chi Minh a good capitalist if ever there was one.

Vietnam knows how to spot a Petro Fund which is ripe for picking (looting).


Above: interesting how Joao Meco - a lawyer from Oecusse, who works for Wiranto has a cheeky thing to add.

Perhaps we will be seeing more scenes like this in Dili harbour in 5 months time?

One has to wonder if there will be another ricegate story with contracts like this being signed again, and then trebled at the last minute.

Is there a Food Crisis? Last year the rice was bought the mitigate a food crisis - or was it about politics.....

VN doubles exports of rice to Timor Leste

(24-09-2009)

HA NOI Vietnamese companies will double their exports of rice to 200,000 metric tonnes to Timor Leste next year, under an agreement signed yesterday in Ha Noi by Viet Nam's Ministry of Industry and Trade and the country's Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry. All rice eaten in Timor Leste is imported. The two ministers also agreed to start negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement.

They have encouraged companies and associations to promote bilateral
economic and trade activities.

Increasing cooperation is also sought in energy, petrol, mining and
forestry. VNS

--etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan

Ricegate Version 2.0

Vietnam-East Timor to sign rice export contract

16/Sep/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 2

16 Sep, 2009 - 11:28:23 AM

Le Duong Quang, deputy minister of industry and trade yesterday Sep 15 had a meeting with East Timor's minister of foreign affairs Zacarias Albano da Costa.

East Timor's minister of foreign affairs expressed his hope to strengthen the cooperation relationship between the two countries, especially in the field of exporting rice. East Timor would like Vietnam to cooperate in other fields of oil and gas, minerals, agricultural products and consumer goods.

East Timor's minister of industry and Tourism planned to visit Vietnam in Sep. On this occasion, the two governments will negotiate and sign the cooperation contract in exporting rice between Vietnam and East Timor.

Nilton Builds Rice House

4 days ago Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's nephew Nilton Gusmao dos Santos won another contract. This time for $735,955 to build a food storage facility in Tibar.

Food storage?

More rice imports?

Hahu ba Ricegate (120,000)

10,000 tonnes more rice for Timor-Leste

Vietnam Frees Part of Blocked Rice Cargo

Source: Reuters

22/04/2009

Hanoi, April 22 - Vietnam has allowed a rice export company to load 53,500 tonnes for East Timor and Africa blocked by the authorities since late February, a trading company official said on Wednesday.

The Vietnam Food Association has in total halted the shipment of 120,000 tonnes of rice, including 43,500 tonnes bound for Africa, citing violations of export rules, in a move the shipper has said could lead to serious delays and trade disputes.

"We now have permission to ship all the 53,500 tonnes and loading is under way," the official at Kien Giang Trade and Tourism Co (KTC) in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang said.

The cargo included about 10,000 tonnes bound for East Timor, KTC said in a letter sent to the Vietnam Food Association seen by Reuters.

The association had blocked the shipment because it said 10,000 tonnes was destined for Malaysia, one of Vietnam's main rice markets for which Vinafood 2, the country's top rice exporter, is the only authorised supplier.

The head of Vinafood 2 is also chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, the industry body charged with overseeing rice exports.

KTC said its contract with a Singaporean buyer was on a free-on-board basis, so the exporter's responsibility for the cargo ended after it was loaded onto the ship.

It was not immediately clear when KTC would load the remaining 66,500 tonnes, but KTC director Nguyen Hung Linh has said the firm would start loading from July.

Minister on Facebook

From a fan.

Seems that the Minister responsible for bringing in many many millions upon millions of dollars of cheap Vietnamese and Thai rice into Timor-Leste and thus crushing domestic supply is, according to his facebook "status", "promoting incentives for more national food production".

Seems slightly hypocritical. Then again it is politics. Even on facebook.

What is the Dili "Love" Connection?

Ships, ships, and more ships.....

On 14 december 2008 there were 12 ships in Dili harbour, many of them Vietnamese ships, loaded with Thai rice for the $17 million dollar man.

AMP and Rice: Can it Kick the Sole Source Contracting Habit?

You will remember that massive rice deal that was reported in September - - - - http://thediliinsider.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-lies-between-dili-and-bangkok-sea.html

It would appear that Thai Rice is coming to Dili. By the shipload - many of them.

In the last three weeks the Government appears to have awarded tens of millions of dollars of rice contracts to friends and allies. Not many, if any, tenders seems to have occured for these rice deals. But then again it is a food crisis period......

12 companies are reportedly invloved. Including but not limited to:

1. ATRAMOR for $1,848,640
2. BELUN FETO for $3,842,500
3. STAR KING for $3,842,000
4. MAUBARA FITUN NAROMAN for $3,843,000
5. UNITED FOOD for $3,842,500
6. SERBAJAYA for $1,615,000
7. TRES,AMIGOS for $3,843,500
(we will remember this companies $14 million contract in July 2008 http://thediliinsider.blogspot.com/2008/07/rice-and-patronage.html It is proving to be a very good year for Xanana's friend Germanu da Silva. Have you seen the quality of his house recently.....?)

GRAND TOTAL $22,677,140 in rice contracts.... equal to 20% of Timor-Leste entire national budget in 2005....!

Plonk. Tolu Millaun Tan. Haan Foz Foz Foz.....

So another $3 or 4 million dollars of rice is about to be consumed. Sound political strategy or forward thinking development policy? Is this part of the Thai adventure? http://thediliinsider.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-lies-between-dili-and-bangkok-sea.html

What Lies between Dili and Bangkok? A Sea of Rice. Worth $103 200 000?

This is a story about what appears to be a very quiet Bangkok-Dili rice deal for $25 800 000-$103 200 000.

Timor is suffering from too little of something and too much of something - in this case rice. Everywhere you go there is rice. Rice here, rice there, rice seemingly everywhere. Some at 16.50 a bag some at much more. In any event it is all about rice. Keep people content with full bellies. "Rice and Circuses" one pundit has noted. http://www.counterpunch.org/kammen08112008.html

A senior Minister of the Government of Timor-Leste flew back and forth between Timor and Europe in mid August at the time in question. Read below in blue....

BANGKOK POST
(www.bangkokpost.com)
Tuesday August 19, 2008

http://www.bangkokpost.com/190808_Business/19Aug2008_biz29.php

AGRICULTURE

New support for rice prices

CHATRUDEE THEPARAT & PHUSADEE ARUNMAS

The government plans to begin another rice-pledging scheme in November for the main paddy crop in a bid to shore up domestic rice prices.

Commerce Minister Chaiya Sasomsab said the pledging price would be no less than the 14,000 baht per tonne offered currently for second-crop paddy.

Mr Chaiya said earlier that the price could be as high as 15,000 baht a tonne for regular paddy and 19,000 baht for jasmine rice paddy.

However, exporters warned that proposed higher prices might affect export competitiveness, given the high price gap between Thai rice and rice from other countries.

The government bought 1.2 million tonnes of paddy _ equivalent to around 720,000 tonnes of milled rice _ from farmers under a buying scheme for the second crop that started on June 15. Purchases are due to end on Sept 30.

Mr Chaiya also said that the government was confident it could clear the entire 2.1 million tonnes of rice in its old stockpile, and another 1.2 million tonnes bought from the latest pledging scheme.

The government yesterday agreed to sell 120,000 tonnes of 15% white rice to Timor-Leste. Thailand will deliver the first lot of 30,000 tonnes under a government-to-government deal at $860 per tonne, with the remainder to be handled by private exporters.

Last week, the government signed a letter of intent to sell 100,000 tonnes of 25% white rice a year via private exporters under a three-year contract with Djibouti.

COMMENT:

120 000 x $860 = $103 200 000!

This would make it the largest purchase (or eries of purchases in modern Timorese history....

Who signed the MOU with who? Where is a copy? What does it say? Was it a good price? What are terms of payment? What are terms of delivery? In what manner will the 90 000 tons to be privately handled actually be "handled"?

Rice and Patronage

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/East_Timor_Prime_Minister_Xanana_Gusmao_trebles_rice_contract_with_party_VP_to_%2414_million_2008