Agriculture minister Dith Tina (centre) poses for a group photo with cashew industry delegates at the ministry headquarters in Phnom Penh. MAFF
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina met with world cashew industry delegates and the Cambodia Cashew Federation (CCF) on March 30 to discuss the 2024 World Cashew Conference (WCC), which will be held in Siem Reap province.
In a press release, the agriculture ministry said Tina had advised relevant partners to hold a press conference with the participation of all of the relevant institutions in the value chain, ranging from producers, processors to marketers.
“We will open up opportunities for investment and cooperation by mobilising and encouraging foreign investors to invest in cashew nuts in Cambodia, using local raw materials to process into value-added products,” Tina was quoted as saying.
He said this will contribute to achieving the government’s vision of expanding cashew exports to world markets.
The government has announced its ambition to make Cambodia the “King of Cashews”, in line with the National Policy on Cashew Nuts for 2022-2027.
The 2024 WCC will be attended by cashew growers, processors, buyers, investors and international development partners from 40 to 50 countries.
The world cashew delegates also met with the Ministry of Environment on March 29 to discuss their plans.
The CCF said that at the meeting, the delegates appreciated the quality of the Kingdom’s cashews. They expressed their hopes that the WCC will promote the potential of Cambodian cashews and support the government’s policy.
“In addition to food products, cashews can be processed for different purposes, including ethanol, refined oils or biofuels. Significantly, cashew crops provide carbon credits which mitigate the impacts of climate change,” said the CCF.
Cashew nuts Association of Cambodia (CAC) president Uon Silot said the WCC could be very influential in bringing more Cambodian cashews to world markets, by sharing the potential of the Kingdom’s produce.
“This conference is very necessary as it will attract investment and also promote tourism,” he said.
In the first two months of the year, Cambodia exported a total of 114,193 tonnes of cashew nuts to four countries: Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
