The Cambodia Rice Federation has set its goal on pushing milled rice export up to 800,000 tonnes this year, about a 30 percent increase from 2021 exports.
The rice body said the year 2022 is a recovery year for the rice sector. After 2021 the rice export dropped by 10.68 percent to 617,069 tonnes.
“We agreed on a draft action plan targeting 2022 as the year to recover growth and boost exports after a nearly 11 percent decline in 2021 in the wake of the crisis of Covid-19, by setting a new export target of between 750,000 and 800,000 tonnes by 2022,” CRF said in a statement.
CRF boosts for wider promotion of Cambodia’s rice and pure rice seed production which is in demand in the markets.
“Through the new goal, priority should be given to promoting the development of rice varieties that meet export demand, resilience and climate change, and promoting the production of pure rice seeds for the farming communities to use and encourage more exports through the promotion of registered rice brands, including Angkor Jasmine and the collective brands of fragrant rice and sticky rice, which will be registered in the near future,” it said.
CRF vice president Chan Sokheng said that CRF expects markets in China and the EU will be bigger for Cambodia’s rice export, which will boost rice exports.
Regarding the target, CRF examined both the markets that absorbed the potential of Cambodian rice, as well as each growing market and approval of rice exports between 750,000 tonnes and 800,000 tonnes is expected to reach 100 percent, he said.
“The EU market used to import 380,000 to 400,000 tonnes, and China’s market imports more than 300,000 tons per year, and with other markets, the amount of rice export will be larger than previously,” he said.
Cambodia exported 617,069 tonnes of milled rice from January to December 2021, netting more than $527 million. The update was shared recently by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF), indicating that the total milled rice export decreased by 10.68 percent compared to 2020.
Cambodia reached a new quota of 400,000 tonnes of milled rice export to China late last year and the EU’s safeguard imposed on Cambodia’s white rice will be ended this month.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
