Cambodia exports agricultural products worth $1.94b to China in past 3 years

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia exported more than 2.4 million tons of agricultural products to China from 2019 to June 2022, earning a gross revenue of $1.94 billion, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon said on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian nation had shipped 24 kinds of agricultural products to China, he said in a Facebook post, adding that they included fresh bananas, milled rice, dried cassava chips, cassava starch, dried mangoes, fresh mangoes, dried rubber, cashew nuts, and cocoa powder, among others.

The minister's remarks came after he took part in a Cambodia-China agricultural forum via video link on Wednesday.

Sakhon said China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has paved the way for the two countries to further broaden bilateral cooperation in all fields, including agriculture.

"The BRI has brought great benefits to Cambodia's agriculture, helping the country to grow rice, cassava, tropical fruits, natural rubber and other products," he said.

The initiative has supported Cambodia in building agricultural product processing parks and enhancing the added value of agricultural products, the minister said, adding that it has also helped attract Chinese investors in this sector.

Sakhon said Chinese investment is essential to Cambodia's efforts to modernize agricultural production technologies and promote agricultural infrastructure.

Ngin Chhay, head of the General Directorate of Agriculture under the Cambodian ministry of agriculture, said on Tuesday that Cambodia is expected to export fresh Pailin longan and pangasius fish to China for the first time in the near future.