Brunei inks deal to buy Cambodian jasmine rice

The government of Brunei on Saturday signed a one-year contract to purchase 3,000 tons of jasmine or fragrant rice from Cambodia, the first such deal reached by the two Asian nations. The deal was inked between Pg Haji Mohd Noordin B PLP Pg Haji Mohd Said, director of the supply and state stores department at the Brunei\'s Ministry of Finance, and Phou Puy, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Millers Association and the Baitong Rice Export Company. \"We will supply fragrant rice to Brunei from November this year for one year with the quantity of 3,000 tons,\"Phou Puy told reporters after the signing ceremony.\"We hope that the supply will increase if our rice quality meets the need of Brunei citizens.\" Pg Haji Mohd Noordin B PLP Pg Haji Mohd said that the agreement was reached after a three-year negotiation. \"November will be the first time that Cambodian jasmine rice is on sale in Brunei market,\"he said. Cambodia produced 9.31 million tons of paddy rice last year and the nation had around 3 million tons of milled rice leftover for export this year. Cambodian milled rice is sold to European countries, the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and some Southeast Asian countries. Last year, the country exported 187,115 tons of milled rice, earning 132 million U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The impoverished Southeast Asian nation expected that it would be able to export 1 million tons of milled rice by 2015.