Food Processing Investment Needed: Sok Touch
Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) president Sok Touch has called for more processing of local agricultural products. Photo: Sok Touch's Facebook
- By Sem Vanna
- March 3, 2023 5:30 PM
PHNOM PENH – Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) president Sok Touch has called for more processing of local agricultural products.
He said it would be more beneficial to export processed products than raw materials.
“Don't be impressed with one million tonnes of rice exported,” he said at a roundtable discussion on the importance of vocational training on March 1.
“Don't be impressed with one million tonnes of longan exported. Be proud when you can process rice into 20 non-rice products. That is the greatness of a processing society.
“Don’t sell fresh potatoes, we should process them first,” he said. “Other countries can do it. Why can’t we?”
The lack of processing plants was the main issue. Farmers with a small amount to export risked selling the product at a lower price.
Seeing such problems in the agricultural sector, the government had worked hard to call for more investors in processing.
Cambodia needed to attract more agro-processing investors to expand exports, reduce oversupply, and add value to existing products.
Cambodia's potential products include rubber, cassava and sugarcane,but all have received little investment in processing.
The government had set the goal of exporting a million tonnes of rice per year. However, 13 years had passed, and the government had yet to reach its goal due to the lack of rice millers, grain dryers and capital.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Te Chhaysinh for Cambodianess.
