Food association says rice venture with Cambodia necessary

Cambodia is expected to export around 1 million tons of rice to Vietnam this year

The rice area in Cambodia is as large as Vietnam, but Cambodia’s rice production figures are low due to the lack of modern technology, Vietnam Food Association Deputy Chairman Nguyen Tho Tri told the Saigon Economic Times Tuesday.

Still, the country has a surplus of rice for export to Thailand and Vietnam, Tri said. Cambodia is expected to export around 1 million tons of rice to Vietnam this year.

“If the huge potential is tapped, Cambodia will become a rice exporter as large as Vietnam.”

Vietnamese and Cambodian officials met in August to discuss setting up a rice joint venture project to boost shipments of Cambodian rice. The Southern Food Corporation, one of Vietnam’s two biggest state-owned agriculture food companies, and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam would represent a 70 percent stake in the Cambodia-based joint venture, Tri said.

The joint venture plan has faced criticism from Vietnamese farmers, who said the government should focus only on exporting locally-produced rice products.

But Tri said the project is the right move.

“If other countries invest in the Cambodian rice sector first, Vietnamese rice will face fierce competition against Cambodian rice on the global market in the future.”

He noted that both Thailand and China also wanted to work with Cambodia in rice exports.

Source: Thanh Nien