Female vendor get educated for buying and selling dugong meat in Kep province on June 17. FB
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon said a Chinese company was keen on investing in buying fresh fruits from Cambodia to process and package for export to the Chinese market.
This comes following a Monday meeting held at the ministry between Sakhon and the company’s CEO Wang Bingnan to discuss investment plans in the Kingdom’s agricultural sector.
The ministry named the company as “Tian Tian” in a statement. But in a message to The Post, Sakhon later identified the company as the Shanghai-based Fruit Day E-Commerce Co Ltd.
The ministry reported Sakhon as saying that the investment is in line with the ministry’s agricultural development plan to strengthen domestic production and boost the national economy via the modernisation of agriculture, processing, packaging and export.
“I welcome and support companies involved in investment projects for buying, processing, packaging and export of fresh fruits from Cambodia to the Chinese market,” he said.
He added that Wang had previously visited the Kingdom to assess the quality of local mango, longan, jackfruit, durian, fragrant coconut and grapefruit products, confident that they would garner support and secure a strong market in China.
“I encouraged the company to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the ministry so that the ministry can facilitate production through community contracting, particularly export regulations,” Sakhon said.
Hun Lak, the director of Longmate Agriculture Co Ltd, which invests in 1,000ha of banana plantations in Kampot province, told The Post on Tuesday that company representatives met with him prior to their meeting with the minister, eager to learn about his banana production.
“Provided that they meet adequate standards, are high-quality and at the right price, I’m sure the company will extend a helping hand to bring Cambodian agricultural products to the Chinese market,” he said.
He noted the company’s interest in supplying local mangoes, jackfruits, durian and grapefruits to China.
He said he hopes that the soon-to-be-signed Cambodia-China bilateral free trade agreement will enable the access of more Cambodian fruits to Asia’s largest market through major Chinese companies.
“I have prepared a mango farm and would like to put together a mango community, and provide them with technological assistance and input.
“We’ll set up contracts to buy fresh mangoes and pack them for export to China,” Lak said.
Fresh mangoes and yellow bananas are the only two agricultural products to be officially permitted for export to China.
Cambodia exported a total of 2.68 million tonnes of agricultural products in the first seven months of this year, the ministry reported.
Shipments of mangoes and its dehydrated products accounted for 49,937 tonnes, while fresh yellow bananas tallied 167,754 tonnes. The Kingdom currently exports 61 agricultural products to 59 countries.
