HANOI, May 14 (Reuters): Vietnam is willing to supply rice to the Philippines for the long term at reasonable prices, its Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the regional Asean meeting in Indonesia, according to the Vietnamese government.
Vietnam is the world's third-largest rice exporter, and the Philippines has for years been its largest buyer.
Vietnam's rice exports in April rose 8.5% from the previous month to 1.04 million tonnes, government customs data has showed.
Rice shipments from Vietnam were valued at $545.8 million in the month, up 7.2% from March, it said.
However, Vietnam's exports in the first four months of this year fell 13% from a year earlier to $107.1 billion, government customs data released showed.
Imports in the January-April period fell 17.7% to $99.6 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $7.5 billion, the Customs Department said in a report.
In April, exports fell 6.2% from March to $27.86 billion, while imports were down 11.0% at $25.21 billion, the department said. - Reuters
