AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD MARKETING ASSOCIATION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

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Workshop on Rice Policies and Food Security in Asia: what we have learned from the 2008 rice price crisis and can we avoid another one?, 10-12 February 2009, Chiangmai, Thailand
FAO Agricultural Development Economics Division and AFMA organized the Workshop on Rice Policies and Food Security in Asia - what have we learned from the 2008 rice price crisis and can we avoid another one? at Centara Duangtawan Hotel, Chiang Mai. Twenty-six participants attended the workshop. There was discussion and analysis of various rice statistics, government actions and policies and the course of world and domestic rice prices during the crisis. The meeting discussed the reaction of government agencies to the situation and what were the impacts of each policy. Although the rice crisis happened at the approximately the same time as the global crisis, the meeting agreed the causes were different.
List of participants | Program

Program

Monday, February 9
19:00:	Welcome reception and dinner for participants to be hosted by Assistant Director General, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Kiengdao Room, 3rd floor, Centara Duangtawan Hotel)
Tuesday, February 10
08:30–09:20:	Introduction
09:20–10:10:	Tom Slayton, Visiting fellow, Center for Global Development, former publisher of the Rice Trader and the Rice Report, “Arson forensics: What set the rice market on fire in 2008?
10:40–11:30:	Vichai Sriprasert, former head of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, “Government intervention in rice markets”
11:30–12:20:	Sumeth Laomoraphorn, President, CP Intertrade, “Competition in the international rice trade”
12:20–14:00:	Lunch
14:00–14:50:	Professor Peter Timmer, non-resident fellow, Center for Global Development: “Did speculation and futures markets affect rice prices?”
14:50–15:40:	Alexander Sarris, Director, Trade Policy and Markets Division, Food and Agriculture Organization, “Trade policies to ensure food security in Asia”
15:40–16:10:	Coffee Break
16:10–17:00:	Mahabub Hossain, Executive Director, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and Uttam Kumar Deb, Director for Research, Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), “Rice policies in Bangladesh and their effects on domestic prices”
Wednesday, February 11
08:30–09:15:	Agus Saifullah, BULOG, “How did Indonesia manage domestic prices during the crisis?”
09:15–10:00:	Pham Hoang Ngan, Deputy Director, Information Center for Rural and Agricultural Development, Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development, “Why did domestic rice prices in Viet Nam increase so suddenly?”
10:00–10:30:	Coffee Break
10:30–11:15:	Nipon Poapongsakorn, President, Thailand Development Research Institute, “Thailand’s rice policies and their effects on the world market”
11:15–12:00:	Charus Kittiomboonsuk, Senior Expert, Department of Foreign Trade, Thailand, “Rice stock management in Thailand”
12:00–13:30:	Lunch
13:30–14:20:	Cheng Fang, Economist, FAO, “Rice stock and trade policies in China”
14:20–14:50:	Zhou Hui, Senior Staff, Policies and Regulations Department, State Administration of Grain (SAG), China, “Rice stock management in China”
14:50–15:20:	Coffee Break
15:20 – 16:10:	Ashok Gulati (IFPRI Director in Asia) and Monica Dutta (Economist, IFPRI-Asia), “Rice policies in India during the crisis”
16:10 – 17:00:	Professor Shoichi Ito, Kyushu University, “Japan’s rice policy and its role in the world rice market”
18:30 – 22:00:	Khum Kantoke (dinner; transportation will be provided)