Cambodia has exported over 25,000 tonnes of milled rice to ASEAN countries in the first five months of this year, an increase of 9 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that from January to May, a total of 25,691 tonnes of milled rice – an increase of 9.06 per cent – has been exported to other ASEAN member countries.
Malaysia is the top export destination at 15,120 tonnes for an increase of 5.33 per cent. Brunei is the runner up as they imported 8,022 tonnes of milled rice or an increase of 2.8 per cent. Singapore and Vietnam ranked third and fourth, importing 1,549 tonnes (0.55 per cent increase) and 1,000 tonnes (increase of 0.3 per cent) respectively.
Lun Yeng, secretary general of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) said that Malaysia is the biggest Cambodian rice importer in ASEAN and is third among 90 countries that imported rice from Cambodia in the past five years (2017-2021) with a total rice of 204,565 tonnes imported or nearly 7 per cent of all 3,148,697 tonnes in that period.
He said that in 2021 Cambodia had exported 46,181 tonnes of Fragrant Rice to Malaysia, worth $32.07 million, making the country third ranked after China and France.
“In Malaysia, most elderly people have heard of Cambodia’s fragrant rice since before the war and the kind of rice that was sold there was known as Somaly. Currently, the milled rice packaged with the name Somaly is still popular there,” he said.
