Indonesia is to import about 100, 000 tons of rice from Vietnam this month to meet the target of one million tons of government stock, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono in Jakarta on Thursday told Xinhua by telephone.

Indonesia and Vietnam had a commitment of cooperation in the field, he said.

Separately, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy Boediono said at a press briefing here on Thursday that there is currently a supply of 31,567 tons of rice that could be bought from domestic market to add to the government stock that was predicted to be 686,000 tons at the end of this month.

"The rest, the government will buy these (from overseas) to meet the quantity of one million tons stock of rice, that we consider safe," said Boediono, after a coordinating meeting which discussed the rice import issue at the Finance Ministry office here.

He also said that the government would persistently purchase rice from domestic market during this month.

The one million stock would be used for the programs of the State Logistic Agency (Bulog) such as supplying rice for poor people.

In December last year, the government decided to add the stock by 132,000 tons, putting a priority to meet the target from domestic supply.

Rice is a strategic commodity in Indonesia as about 90 percent of its 220 million population live in the agricultural sector and most of them grow rice.

Source: Xinhua