§ 57. Mr. W. Fletcherasked the Minister of Food the total amount of rice shipped from Siam during June, 1946.
§ Mr. StracheyThirty-nine thousand, two hundred tons.
§ Mr. FletcherIn view of the fact that 36,000 tons was the figure shipped in the previous month and that since then a new agreement has been signed which, we are told, should produce more, and in view of the vital need for this rice in India and Malaya, will a bigger effort be made to get a bigger flow of this rice to increase the amount available in countries where its arrival will prevent starvation on a large scale?
§ Mr. StracheyOne could not exaggerate the importance of increasing the flow of Siamese rice at the moment, but the figure is rising, and the new agreement was hardly operating during this-period. We will certainly watch the increase with the greatest possible care and take whatever steps are necessary.