Amru Rice founder and CEO Song Saran will be accepting the first Golden Agrow Award on behalf of his firm, an honour presented by the Asean Business Advisory Council, Saran said on Monday.

He will be presented the award during the second Asean Agriculture Summit in the Philippines on October 1.

“I am very happy to get the award as it reflects that our efforts are regionally recognised,” Saran said, adding that this is the second regional award he has received.

In 2015, Saran won the Young Entrepreneurship Award 2015 which was presented by The Takeda Foundation.

“It encourages us to continue our work to help Cambodian farmers,” Saran said, adding that efforts to push sustainable agriculture helped him clinch the award.

He said Amru has signed contract farming agreements with 10,000 organic rice farmers in the country and had so far purchased around 60,000 tonnes of organic paddy.

After inheriting his grandfather’s milling company, Saran established Amru in 2008. Within five years the company’s assets and equity grew from $500,000 to $4 million.