Vietnam expressed willingness to export “cheap and good quality” rice to the Philippines, a Palace official said on Friday during a briefing in Singapore.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc “discussed the purchase of rice,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said. “Vietnam reiterated its willingness to supply good quality rice to the Philippines.”
The spokesman likewise said that the Vietnamese Prime Minister vowed that it would be offered at a “low” price.
For his part, Mr. Duterte, according to his spokesman, thanked Mr. Phuc for the warm reception being extended to around 3,800 Filipinos who are currently working in Vietnam.
At the end, Mr. Roque also said, Mr. Duterte “appealed for humanitarian assistance in favor of a certain Captain Romel Aleria who has been detained in Vietnam since 2016 for alleged illegal cross-border transport of goods.”
“The issue of Vietnamese fishermen being arrested by Philippine authorities for illegal fishing was also discussed,” Mr. Roque added. Vietnam, for its part, “thanked the Philippine government for releasing its nationals.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

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