Agricultural experts form a collective to assist local exports

Agricultural experts form a collective to assist local exports

A group of agricultural experts has joined forces to form the Cambodia Horticulture Investment Platform (CHIP), a group created for the “promotion of fruits and vegetables in the Kingdom”.

Led by Mey Kalyan – a senior advisor at the Supreme National Economic Council and the Chairman of Board of Trustees at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) – the CHIP group also consists of members from the private sector, practitioners, related institutions, researchers, and backed by local government ministries, NGOs and Development Partners (DPs).

According to Kalyan, the CHIP project aims to gather the involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the agricultural industry, as he believes they will all play a vital role in negotiating market access for Cambodia’s agriculture products.

“CHIPs aim is also to link real investors with the government, DPs, and NGOs for support to develop agricultural produce which is based on market-driven demand throughout the whole value chain,” Kalyan said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to think hard on how to improve our agriculture sector for both our imported and exported products, as we have to deal with both potential domestic food shortage fears while also leaving tonnes of mangoes rotten under trees,” Kalyan added.

Hun Lak, the director of Longmate Agriculture Co Ltd and also a CHIP group member, who exports fresh bananas to China, told Khmer Times that his company currently exports high-grade fresh banana to China but is also thinking of processing the low-grade banana for export now too.

“We have to use all of our potentials, so we are currently discussing ways to use the grade C or D bananas for processing and produce dried banana chips or banana puree for example. We are also working on a similar idea for other low-grade fruits,” he said.

Srey Vuthy, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said his ministry is pushing for Cambodian produce to be exported directly to China. Outlining that hopefully, the two countries will sign an agreement soon to officially allow fruit shipment to China.

“I am not sure when this agreement is set to be signed but it will most likely have to wait until the pandemic is over,” Vuthy said.

In July last year, the Ministry of Agriculture made public a list of agriculture goods that are being prioritized for export to China the six items were; fresh mango, longan, pepper, dragon fruits, fragrant coconuts and birds’ nest.