The United States opened its first U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) office in Cambodia this month to support growing agricultural trade between the two countries.
According to the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) office is located at the embassy, but its work reaches across the Kingdom to support bilateral agricultural trade and collaboration benefitting both countries.
“There’s a great appetite for American agricultural products and technology in Cambodia, and this new USDA office will work to make them more available to Cambodian consumers and producers,” said U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, W. Patrick Murphy.
“That’s good news for both countries, and it reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the Cambodian people have access to high-quality goods and services from the United States.”
Cambodia is a growing market for U.S. agricultural exports, with $72.7 million in sales in 2020 an increase of 474 percent over the past 10 years.
The FAS office will also support Cambodian schoolchildren and farmers, with tens of millions of dollars in ongoing USDA development assistance programmes, such as the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Programme, which provides meals for children in primary schools, and the Food for Progress programme, which improves agricultural productivity.
The FAS office has appointed Sokkea Hoy as its first agricultural specialist. Previously, Hoy worked at the U.S. Embassy as a commercial specialist helping U.S. companies find their way into the Cambodian market. Phal Sophanith – AKP
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
