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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Tuesday called for a more aggressive global effort to curb soaring commodity prices, saying hardship that has triggered riots in poor nations could spill over to the developed world.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the international community should examine "bold and unprecedented" measures to address the steep rise in prices of food and fuel.
"Protests, demonstrations and food riots have broken out in many countries in the developing world, including in our region," Abdullah said in a speech to a regional conference.
"The burden which is now borne largely by the developing countries and the poor can easily spill over into the developed societies," he said, pointing to protests at ports in Spain and France, and by truck drivers in Britain.
Abdullah said that despite simmering discontent, "there does not seem to exist the same degree of concern in the developed world except for the rising fuel prices."
The premier suggested considering measures like curbing the trade in crude oil to prevent speculative bidding.
"We should examine such steps for possible application to the oil market, itself an important contributor to the soaring prices of other commodities," he said.
Abdullah said the price of rice had soared 76 percent from December last year to April 2008, while overall food prices had risen 83 percent in the last three years.
He called on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and South Korea to step up efforts to create a rice stockpile for regional countries.
"It must become a viable rice reserve scheme that has the full commitment of all participating countries," he said.
Malaysia is set to hike its pump prices as part of a subsidy reform package to curb government spending on fuel subsidies, estimated at 56 billion ringgit (17.5 billion US dollars) this year. - AFP/ac
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