MANILA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines is set to import some 600,000 metric tons rice from Vietnam through a government-to-government agreement, Philippine agriculture chief said Wednesday.

    Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told reporters that his government has "successfully completed negotiations to purchase 600,000 MT rice from Vietnam through a government-to-government basis".

    The deal was inked during a meeting of the Cabinet-level interagency committee on rice procurement, chaired by Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila.

    According to reports, the freight inclusive price of the rice is set at 940 U.S. dollars per ton, down from the 1,140 U.S. dollars average in April's rice tender.

    Yap said the government already has enough rice to fill the domestic production-demand gap but intends to import more to augment the buffer stockpile.

    He said it is the government's obligation not only to maintain adequate supplies, but also to make food prices affordable to the public, especially the poor.

    The Philippines is the world's top rice importer for the year as the government has aggressively bought more than 1.7 million tons of rice on the international market, at a time rice prices floated to a record high due to shrinking production and storage.

    Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has vowed to attain rice self-sufficiency in five year by heavily investing in agricultural programs to boost rice production.