VietNamNet Bridge – Despite accusations that Vinafood 2 bribed Filipino officials in exchange for the right to export 800,000 tons of rice to the Philippines, no proof has yet been offered. The watchdog agency has affirmed that Vinafood 2 is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Despite this respite, the firm has plenty of problems, and critics.

Some days ago, oryza.com, a Filipino newswire, reported that some Filipino officials “wheeled and dealed” with Vinafood 2’s senior executives when those executives were in the Philippines to attend the bidding to provide rice to the country.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan has insisted that Vinafood 2 did not bribe any Filipino officials. He went on to say that the ministry has not received any official information from the Filipino government on the bribery case.

However, Tuan still had a meeting with the negotiators, Mr. Nam and Mrs. Tam, who returned from the Philippines after the negotiations finished, to clarify the suspected case.

“Both of them insisted they did not ‘wheel and deal’ or offer kickbacks to any Filipino officials,” Tuan said.

The negotiators have been heavily criticized for selling Vietnam’s rice so cheaply. Analysts believe that the total revenue could have been at least $23.2 million higher if Vietnam had not placed such a low bid.

On the issue, Tuan said that Tam and Nam, before leaving Vietnam, were told that the highest goal was to win the bid. Regarding the prices, they were told “not to sell at a loss”.

In related news, following a working session between the Filipino President Benigno Aquino and high ranking officials of the cabinet, the Filipino government decided last week to buy 200,000 more tons of rice from Vietnam.

Though Vinafood 2 has been vindicated in the case of the rice exports to the Philippines, it still has to deal with other troubles.

The government inspection agency has announced it will inspect Vinafood 2’s implementation of the current laws on the state’s capital use and management following accusations of Vinafood 2 breaking the laws, thus leading to big losses.

A report of Vinafood 2 showed that seven out of its dependent units had incurred cumulative losses of VND1 trillion by the end of 2013.

Vinafood 2’s General Director, Huynh The Nang, has attributed the losses to unprofitable investments in catfish farming.

“The VND927 billion catfish project failed completely in all cultivation, processing and export. We could not find markets for our catfish products. This was a wrong investment decision,” he said.

However, taking losses is not the reason Vinafood 2 has become the target of heated public criticism. The food corporation, a state-owned enterprise, has been accused of forcing rice prices down and blocking farmers.

Dr. Nguyen Van Nam, former director of the Trade Research Institute, claimed that Vinafood 1 and Vinafood 2, the nation’s key rice exporters, have not helped improve the competitiveness of Vietnam’s rice. They have even suppressed the price of Vietnamese rice by selling the product too cheaply on the world market.

Dat Viet