3 while the contracts for white rice are rarely traded. I cannot help but feel that the existence of the price support scheme may have contributed to this apparent lack of interests in rice futures trading. As of last Friday, only 3 contracts for white rice were traded and the open interests were only for 60 contracts equivalent to 300 metric tonnes. For a country that exported 7.6 million tonnes of rice last year-the highest volume in its history, I believe our rice futures market has high potential to grow, if conditions are right. The government guaranteed prices are set once a year and thus, do not incorporate new information into the price. On the contrary, futures contracts are traded on a daily basis and these prices are said to be the best predictor of prices in the future – pricing in all currently available information. Players should be encouraged to hedge their produce through the futures market rather than through a static price-support scheme. In the medium term, the price-support scheme should be eventually phased out so that our producers would be freed to stand on their own feet. It is crucial that we implement the change gradually to enable those involved to adjust. I feel that we should strive in this direction - it is only then would our producers be able to respond to competition in the global market place. These days, many agricultural-related products in Thailand are subject to price ceilings.
Expressing my sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, the National Institution Stobi and the Embassy of the United States in the Republic of Macedonia, I invite His Excellency, the Ambassador of the United States, Paul Wohlers and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, Elizabeta Kancheska-Milevska to take the floor. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches