Manila  - Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has pledged to sell rice at a negotiated price to the Philippines amid a tight supply of the staple, a Philippine official said Friday.

Samak made the pledge during a dinner meeting with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the start of a two-day visit in Manila Thursday, according to Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.

"The prime minister said that in the event the Philippines should need rice, Thailand would be more than open to supply to the Philippines," Yap said.

But the prime minister "did not commit any volume" of imports, and the price of the sale would have "to be negotiated" under a government-to-government transaction, Yap added.

The Philippines, now the world's biggest rice importer, has contracted for 1.7 million tons of the staple to fill a 10-per-cent gap in domestic production this year.

Yap said the country has already secured import contracts with Vietnam and Japan that would fill the domestic supply gap. But the government has been planning to buy more as a buffer supply.

Arroyo thanked Samak for the "gracious offer," Yap said.

But he noted that the government will have to evaluate various factors, including a strong dry season harvest, before deciding to procure more imports from Thailand and other suppliers. (dpa)