Vietnam will soon sign an agreement with Indonesia to boost long-term rice shipments, the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday in a statement, after exports plunged in the first half of the year.

The statement came hours after Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil.

Indonesia has been among Vietnam's key markets for rice, but deliveries in the first half of this year plummeted 97% to 19,000 metric tons.

Vietnam is the world's third largest rice exporter after India and Thailand, but Indonesia slashed its purchases partly because of high domestic inventories.

The Vietnamese government said the rice trade agreement would contribute to long-term and sustainable rice exports for Vietnam and would "ensure food security for Indonesia."

At the meeting, Chinh also said he would instruct Vietnam's trade ministry to work with Indonesian authorities to further open each other's markets.

Source: Reuters

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