Cambodia has named a number of potential agricultural products for export to China. This comes just after the Kingdom making its first official direct shipment of fresh mangoes to China.
The agricultural products named include Palin longan, durian, dragon fruits and healthy bird saliva (the binding agent in bird’s nests).
These products would join fresh mangoes and fresh bananas as approved Cambodian agricultural exports to China.
Prak Phanara, Cambodia’s commercial attache in Beijing, said last month’s first official shipment of fresh mangoes to China was extremely important for the promotion of the fruit to Chinese people. Fresh mangoes were the second agricultural product, after fresh bananas, to be approved for direct shipment to China.
“With the concerted efforts of the two nations, more delicious and fresh agricultural products including Pailin longan, durian, dragon fruit, and healthy bird saliva, could be granted permission to enter the Chinese market soon,” Phanara said last week.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recently announced the formation of a working group to study the potential of agricultural products for export to foreign markets, particularly to China and its population of 1.4 billion.
“The ministry is working to identify the potential products and then provide support because technical assistance will need to be given to lift the production up from planting to processing for export,” he said.
The ministry is also working to enhance sanitary and phytosanitary standards to meet the required obligations for export, he said.
Commerce Ministry spokesman Penn Sovicheat said that the frameworks on exporting products to China have already been developed and the work remaining is to reply to China’s required standards for export.
“The Ministry of Commerce and the Chinese side have talked and agreed in principle on allowing Cambodian products to China. This means that we can export the products but we have to overcome the challenges of meeting standard requirements,” Sovicheat said.
Figures from the Agriculture Ministry show Cambodia exported 3 million tonnes of non-rice agricultural products Jan-May, a 67 percent rise yeasr to date.
Those exports resulted in revenue totalling $1.799 billion.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
