The purpose of the ASEAN Rice Trade Forum is to serve as a platform for representatives of the ASEAN Member States and various stakeholder groups to collectively
- share, analyse and disseminate the rice market outlook and various scenarios;
- identify areas of cooperation and policy coordination to mitigate or avoid extreme rice price volatility;
- determine long-term and strategic policy reforms for the sustained development of regional rice trade; and
- identify immediate and long-term policy measures to attain food security.
The theme for the 2nd ASEAN Rice Trade Forum is "Rice Trade and Self-Sufficiency in ASEAN." The specific objectives of the Forum are
- to understand the dynamics and feasibility of rice self-sufficiency as a policy option and policy action in ASEAN;
- to identify the costs, benefits, risks, and trade-offs of rice self-sufficiency and rice trade; and
- to determine the key challenges and opportunities with respect to rice trade and rice self-sufficiency strategies, within the evolving regional and global context.
Participation is by invitation only.
The Forum invited about 60 participants representing the following:
- ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board (AFSRB)
- Rice farmers' groups, traders associations, and agribusinesses
- Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
- International partners and donors
- ASEAN Secretariat and AFSRB Secretariat
- Selected experts and resource persons