"We have revised and extended our Memorandum of Understanding for rice import from Vietnam until 2009, and we have also agreed to increase the volume of our import to one million tons per year," the minister said after signing the MoU during a meeting of the Indonesia-Vietnam Joint Commission here.

The MoU was signed by Mari E Pangestu and her Vietnamese counterpart, Troung Dinh Tuyen.

Indonesia and Vietnam previously signed an MoU which contained an agreement that Indonesia would import some 500 million tons of rice a year.

Director General for External Trade Diah Maulida explained the MoU was not a binding contract but a document agreed on by the two sides where Vietnam would guarantee supply of rice to Indonesia.

"With the MoU, rice will be available each time we need it as if we have stocks in that country," Diah said.

The director general said that the amount of one million tons was a maximal limit. "It means that we can import in a very small volume or a maximal volume of one million tons."

Diah said that the revision of the MoU was based on Indonesia`s experience this year where it had to import more than 500 thousand tons because the harvest season in the country was delayed.

"The experience teaches us a lesson that we have to have a larger stock," Diah said.

Besides the MoU on rice import with Vietnam, Indonesia also had a similar MoU with Thailand, and it was also exploring the possibilities to conclude similar MoUs with China and Pakistan.

"We have to study it first whether the rice meets the quality we need. In the past, the type of Pakistan`s rice did not suit consumers in Indonesia," Diah said. (*)