DILI, 7 january 2022 (TATOLI) – The President of the National Logistics Center (CLN) Zervájio Cardoso said 5.000 tons of imported rice from Thailand will arrive in Timor-Leste next month.
“It is likely that the 5.000 tons of imported rice will arrive by the end of february or early march. These 5.000 tons of rice were purchased with a budget of around US$4 million,” Cardoso told TATOLI at his office, in Dili, on thursday.
He said prior to the purchase of the 5.000 tons of rice, CLN had prepared 535 tons of paddy in Maliana of Bobonaro municipality and Natarbora of Manatuto municipality in case of an emergency situation.
“With the rice that has been prepared, we guarantee that if an emergency situation occurs, we can immediately process it to respond to such situation,” he said.
He added the stock of rice in CLN’s warehouses is still sufficient to anticipate famine in Timor-Leste, saying, therefore, CLN is always ready to respond as quickly as possible to any emergency situation.
So far, Timor-Leste was heavily dependent on imported rice from two of the largest rice exporters in the world – Thailand and Vietnam.
The government of Timor-Leste had committed to making serious investments in the agricultural sector to ensure national food self-sufficiency.
This year the Government allocated US$345.9 million of the 2022 general State Budget equivalent to 20.7 percent on productive sectors, namely agriculture and etc.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
