Cambodia posts sharpest increase in rice output among major producers
June 20th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Industry, International Relations, Production, Reports, Rice, Trade
Cambodia posted the sharpest increase in production among the world’s major rice producers between 2000 and 2010, the Food and Agricultural Organization said in a report released Wednesday.
The 2013 edition of the UN agency’s Statistical Yearbook showed that Cambodia was the world’s 12th largest rice producer in 2010 with output of 8.25 million tonnes. That represented an average annual growth rate of 7.4 percent since 2000. The only rice producers with sharper increases were in Africa and outside the world’s top 20 producers.
…
Despite the boom in Cambodia’s rice production, the FAO report showed that yields averaged only 3.0 tonnes a hectare, below the world average of 4.3 tonnes a hectare and a regional average of 4.1 tonnes a hectare in Southeast Asia. …
The Cambodia Herald
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OTRlZjk2Yzg3OTd
Cambodia shrugs at Gambia’s import ban
June 18th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Imports, International Relations, News Source, Rice, Trade
Gambia’s recent announcement that it would ban rice imports in about three years to spur local demand will only have a small impact on Cambodia, which sends a portion of its annual output to the west African country and other nations on the continent, data shows.
“Come 2016, we will ban the importation of rice into this country in order to strengthen local food industries as well as promote food self-sufficiency and good health,” the president said in a speech transmitted by a public broadcaster on Sunday. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061866317/Business/cambodia-shrugs-at-gambia-s-import-ban.html
Cambodia’s rice exports up 126 pct in 5 months
June 6th, 2013, Xinhuanet News, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Industry, International Relations, Production, Rice, Trade
Cambodia’s exports of milled rice have sharply increased in the first five months of this year thanks to rising international market demand and country’s rice promotion strategy, an official said Thursday.
The country had exported 146,800 tons of milled rice during January-May period this year, up 126 percent from 64,900 tons over the same period last year, showed the report of the single window secretariat for facilitating milled rice exports. …
The Ministry of Agriculture announced in January that the country produced 9.31 million tons of paddy rice last year. Of this amount, besides local consumption, the nation had around 3 million tons of milled rice left over for exports this year.
The whole year of 2012, the country exported 205,717 tons of milled rice, up only 2 percent year-on-year.
Xinhuanet Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-06/06/c_132435784.htm
Cambodian rice exports to Thailand rising; Democrat revives allegations
June 3rd, 2013, The Nation, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Industry, International Relations, Rice, Social Concerns, Trade
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will consider claims of corruption in the government’s rice-pledging scheme made during a recent parliamentary session, a senior official from the agency said. However, it remains unclear when the NACC will conclude its ongoing probe.
During screening of the 2014 budget bill last week, Democrat MP Warong Dechgitvigrom revived an allegation against the government first made during the no-confidence debate last December. He said the government suspiciously allowed a private company owned by “Sia Piak” to buy rice from the government’s stockpile for just Bt5,700 per tonne. …
Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut yesterday also accused the government of distorting figures related to the rice scheme. …
Chavanond also cited a recent Phnom Penh Post report that exports of Cambodian unpolished rice to Thailand were increasing. The opposition politician suspected the Cambodian rice might have been imported by corrupt people in order to profit from the government’s rice-pledging scheme.
The English-language daily reported that government figures show that in the first four months of this year, Cambodian milled-rice exports to Thailand reached 14,250 tonnes, while total Cambodian overseas exports amounted to 118,504 tonnes. …
The Nation Staff
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NACC-to-probe-rice-scheme-testimony-30207459.html
Rice exports to Thailand rise
May 31st, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Exports, Imports, News Source, Rice, Trade
Exports of Cambodian unpolished rice to Thailand are increasing, and the trend is promising if the Thai government continues its intervention policy to guarantee the minimum paddy price for their farmers, industry insiders said. …
Government figures show that in the first four months of this year, Cambodian milled rice exports to Thailand reached 14,250 tonnes, while total Cambodian overseas exports was 118,504 tonnes. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053165969/Business/rice-exports-to-thailand-rise.html
Against the Grain
May 30th, 2013, China Economic Review, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Rice, Trade
On the palm-studded plains of Cambodia, rice farmers’ eyes light up with the prospect of sending their crop northward to China. The poor Southeast Asian nation had been trying for several years to export rice to the mainland but only last year did it gain approval from Chinese regulators to start shipments.
Since then, the amount of rice Cambodia has shipped to China has skyrocketed. Although negligible in the international rice trade, the country exported more than 12,000 tons of rice to China in the first four months of the year, double the full-year total for 2012.
Cambodian farmers have capitalized on a trend that surprised – even alarmed – rice traders at the end of 2011. Chinese rice imports jumped about 230% that year, and in 2012 it became the world’s second-largest rice importer. Next year, the USDA predicts China will overtake Nigeria for the No. 1 spot. …
China Economic Review Staff
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/china-rice-demand-market-import
Families seek to Farm Land Claimed by RCAF
May 30th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agri-business, Disputed Land, Farming, Farmland, International Relations, Labor, Land Tenure, Rice, Social Concerns
Some 300 families from Bantey Meanchey province’s Preah Netr Preah district-embroiled in two separate long-running disputes with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF)-yesterday submitted complaints to the provincial governor asking for permission to temporarily farm on the land until the ownership dispute is resolved, villagers and authorities said. …
In Chop Vary commune, villagers have farmed about 26 hectares of land since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 according to [village representative] Mr. [Mean] Sam Aun. He added that they stopped farming temporarily when the RCAF’s artillery unit moved into the area in 1988, but recommenced after the unit’s withdrawal in 1994-up until the military moved back again last year. …
In Preah Netr Preah commune, 254 families have been contesting 174 hectares of land-which they have farmed since 1994-since RCAF’s tank unit arrived in 2008.
Village representative Meas Ny told a similar story of families who relied on farming to survive being forced to illegally cross the Thai border for work. …
Brigadier General Lanh Kao, who in the past said that the RACF tank unit needed to build a headquarters in Preah Netr Preah commune to protect the border, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Kuch Naren, P.17
www.cambodiadaily.com
Rice exports to region rising
May 23rd, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economics, Exports, News Source, Rice, Trade
Cambodian milled rice exports are gradually lessening their dependency on a single market by expanding their shipping destination in Asia, a sign insiders say is good news for the industry.
Kim Savuth, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters, told the Post yesterday that milled rice exports to European countries, Cambodia’s traditional market, is still increasing, but its percentage share is gradually decreasing. He said the trend of exports to Asian market is on the rise. …
In the first four months of this year, Cambodia exports to Malaysia, Thailand and China, reached 40,500 tonnes, 34 per cent Cambodia’s total overseas exports, according to figures from the secretariat of the One Window Service for rice exports.
The data show that those three countries are among the top five importers that bring in rice from Cambodia, with France and Poland at numbers one and two. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052365791/Business/rice-exports-to-region-rising.html
Agriculture needs more loans, irrigation systems, experts say
May 20th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Banking & Finance, Borrowing, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Farming, Financial Services, News Source, Rice
Accessing low-interest loans for rice cultivation is a challenge because the industry in Cambodia is dependant upon rainfall and not irrigation and is thus more risky, experts said last week.
In a meeting on the private sector development in the rice sector, Lim Heng, vice president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, suggested that the government should supply more irrigation systems for better rice output.
“If we do not have enough water systems and still depend on the rainfall, the risk can be very high,” Lim Heng told participants in the meeting. “Therefore financial institutions will be hesitant to give us loans as they think it is too risky. …
Research over the past two years conducted by Srey Chanthy, an independent agricultural analyst, shows that at least $1 billion per year is needed by farmers to strengthen production. …
Agricultural brokerage firm begins operations
May 14th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Corn, Farming, Foreign Investment, News Source, Rice
Chief Cambodia Holding, a Hong Kong-based brokerage firm, started its operations in Phnom Penh yesterday. The company aims to strengthen Cambodian agricultural products, a company official said.
The company reserved $100 million investment capital to connect domestic agricultural producers to the market, Director of Chief Cambodia Holding Te Tea Sieng said. …
Agricultural experts say there are several obstacles hindering growth in the agricultural sector: limited budgets, lack of knowledge about how to improve yields’ quality, and how to access markets. …
Opposition Lawmakers Want ‘Social’ Land to Go to Farmers
May 10th, 2013, VOA, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economic Land Concessions, Farming, Industry, Land Tenure, Rice, Social Land Concessions
Cambodian lawmakers have passed a new law on agriculture, but critics say the law does not go far enough to protect the country’s farmers.
The law passed on Thursday evening, but not before debate at the National Assembly. …
During the debate opposition representatives called on the Cambodian government to stop providing land concessions to private companies—either for economic or “social” aims. So-called social land concessions are supposed to go toward the poor. But opposition lawmakers warn that they too can be abused by private companies. …
[Opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker] Yim Sovann also said the government should create a fund of $100 million to protect rice farmers against price fluctuations. That money could come from revenues on casino tariffs, he said. …
Chan Sarun, a CPP government representative, told the Assembly that a $100-million fund is not possible. And he said the government has already banned land concessions, since May 2012. Some 50,000 hectares have been saved from private development since the ban, he said.
In fact, watchdog and rights groups have said many concession deals have continued, despite an announced ban by Prime Minister Hun Sen in May 2012.
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/opposition-lawmakers-want-social-land-to-go-to-farmers/1657922.html
Kingdom to reach rice target
May 10th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, News Source, Rice
Following a considerable increase in Cambodia’s milled rice exports in the first four months of the year, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said he was optimistic the Kingdom’s rice exports would reach the 2015 target of one million tonnes.
With this year’s export figures notably higher than those of the same period last year, Prasidh said he believed exports of milled rice would reach more than 300,000 tonnes in the first six months of the year, mostly absorbed by European markets. …
According to data from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality, Cambodian milled rice exports reached 118,500 tonnes in the first four months of this year compared with 51,466 tonnes in the same period last year. …
Rann Reuy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051065539/Business/kingdom-to-reach-rice-target.html
Cambodia’s Economic Opportunity
May 9th, 2013, The Diplomat, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Electricity, Energy, Exports, Farming, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Rice, Trade
While significant obstacles remain, the success of the rice sector is a potentially crucial driver in Cambodia’s prosperous and equitable development. …
Cambodia announced two major bilateral trade agreements recently, with the Philippines and Thailand, that are expected to further expand the country’s rice export sector. …
Agriculture, led by rice farming, contributes to roughly a third of the country’s GDP and has immense potential for strengthening Cambodia’s economic growth, accelerating poverty reduction, and improving the living standard of its citizens. As part of this agenda, in 2010, the RGC adopted a new Policy Paper on Paddy Production and Rice Export, better known as the Rice Policy, to promote diversification of Cambodia’s economic sectors by catalyzing growth in paddy rice production and milled rice export to match the growth seen in the garment and service sectors. …
If Cambodia’s rice export sector were to reach its full potential, it could produce 3 million tons of milled rice, with the total export value amounting to $2.1 billion (approximately 20% of the GDP) and an estimated additional $600 million (approximately 5% of the GDP) to the national economy. It would also boost employment and income for agricultural farmers who make up more than 70 percent of the population living in rural areas. …
Poor transport and infrastructure such as roads, railways, warehouses, and handling equipment also increase costs for farmers. …
The lack of handling equipment in one of the main ports, the Sihanoukville Port, is also a major constraint for the export of large quantities of milled rice. …
As a relatively new player in the milled rice market, Cambodia faces a steep learning curve. However, with a surplus of 3.5 million tons of paddy rice (equivalent to 2 million tons of milled rice), Cambodia has the potential to soon be among the top five milled rice exporters in the world.
Khut Inserey
http://thediplomat.com/2013/05/09/cambodias-economic-opportunity/
Major banks show more agricultural sector trust
May 9th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Farming, Industry, Rice, Trade
Major financial institutions show more trust in providing loans to the agricultural sector, evidenced by increasing agricultural loan disbursement, thanks to potential growth in the sector and better preparation of financial report among borrowers, according to industry insiders.
Acleda Bank, Cambodia’s largest domestically owned bank, has been increasing its percentage share of its loan portfolio into agriculture from 15 per cent two years ago to 19 per cent at the end of March.
While the bank’s total loan portfolio reached about $1.35 billion at the end of March this year, In Channy, the bank’s president and chief executive said $254 million was given to agricultural loans, which represents about 19 per cent of total lending. …
Acleda Bank, Cambodia’s largest domestically owned bank, has been increasing its percentage share of its loan portfolio into agriculture from 15 per cent two years ago to 19 per cent at the end of March. …
Kim Savuth, the president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters agreed that accessing loans from banks and MFIs is easier compared to some previous years.
Nevertheless, he said farmers still suffer because of higher interest rates offered by micro lenders, while strict requirements from banks were still a barrier for rice millers.
Milled Rice Exports Rise in the First Four Months
May 8th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Industry, International Relations, Rice, Trade
Milled rice exports have seen dramatic growth this year as the sector begins to take advantage of duty-free exports to European countries, an official and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
Thon Virak, director of state-owned rice exporter Green Trade, said Tuesday that in the year up to the end of April, 118,500 tons of milled rice had been exported from Cambodia.
“It increased by about 43 percent compared with the same period [last year],” Mr. Virak said.
Cambodia traditionally exports a large proportion of its rice crop as unprocessed paddy to Thailand and Vietnam, where it is milled and often re-exported. The government has targeted an increase to 1 million tons a year-compared with only about 200,000 tons last year-by 2015, and investment in rice mills has been stepped up to meet the goal. …
Chhorn Chansy and Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/milled-rice-exports-rise-in-first-four-months-22826/
Agriculture Contributes To Helping Cambodia’s Economic Growth: PM Hun Sen
May 4th, 2013, The Southeast Asia Weekly, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Economics, Exports, Farming, Infrastructure, Labor, News Source, Rice, Trade
“The agriculture sector today is still playing significant role in promoting local production growth, job creation, and contributing to the poverty reduction of the people. At the same time, the agriculture sector will continue the basic role for economic growth and socio-economic development in Cambodia in the coming decades although Cambodia has diversified her economy, including industrialization”, Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia said last week. …
“The growth in agricultural sector is not only improving our economy but also transforming the red dry land to become the green area in all seasons, as well as allowing our youths in rural area to be employed, reducing migration, and improving their livelihood.”
According to the report made by H.E Chan Sarun, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the agriculture sector has grown in average about 4.3% in 2012, in which the rice production was about 3 million hectares, and the land of 2.98 million hectares could be cultivated, and the average yield per year in both dry and rainy seasons is 3.117 tons per hectares. …
“We have also expected that this poverty rate will further decline to under 19% in 2013. In the future, we will try our best to drag down the poverty rate until the elimination of the poverty through the continued development of agriculture and economic diversification.” …
To impose no land tax is like helping them right in the field. For example, they need to spend one or two hundred thousand Riel per hectare as tax. “When we do not charge tax from them, they could use the money for something else, like purchasing a bicycle for their kids or other agricultural utensils.” …
The South East Asia Weekly Staff
http://thesoutheastasiaweekly.com/?p=6134
Cambodia Must Up its Game in Rice Exports
May 2nd, 2013, The Asia Foundation, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Farming, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Rice
Cambodia announced two major bilateral trade agreements last month, with the Philippines and Thailand, that are expected to further expand the country’s rice export sector. Over the last few years, Cambodia has emerged as a major rice exporter in the region, due in large part to the Royal Government of Cambodia’s recent expansion of its agricultural sector. …
Agriculture, led by rice farming, contributes to roughly a third of the country’s GDP and has immense potential for strengthening Cambodia’s economic growth, accelerating poverty reduction, and improving the living standard of its citizens. As part of this agenda, in 2010, the RGC adopted a new Policy Paper on Paddy Production and Rice Export, better known as the Rice Policy, to promote diversification of Cambodia’s economic sectors by catalyzing growth in paddy rice production and milled rice export to match the growth seen in the garment and service sectors. In his keynote address at the policy’s launch, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said: “The policy aims to ensure that we grab the rare opportunity to develop Cambodia in the post global financial and economic cataclysm.” …
Poor transport and infrastructure such as roads, railways, warehouses, and handling equipment also increase costs for farmers. To transport one ton of rice on a 100 km road, Cambodian farmers must spend $15, while their counterparts in Thailand and Vietnam pay $4 and $7.50, respectively. The lack of handling equipment in one of the main ports, the Sihanouk-Ville Port, is also a major constraint for the export of large quantities of milled rice. In addition, lack of access to and high cost of credit decreases domestic economic value-added and hinders milled rice export, presenting an obstacle for rice millers to stockpile paddy rice. …
Khut Inserey
http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2013/05/01/cambodia-must-up-its-game-in-rice-exports/
Thailand and Cambodia to forge closer trade talks
April 29th, 2013, The Nation, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Imports, Rice, Trade
After the fourth Joint Trade Commission (JTC) recently, Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said that Thailand and Cambodia had the potential to drive two-way trade up by 30 per cent, due to strong growth in 2012.
Last year, bilateral trade grew by 40.5 per cent year on year, from US$2.86 billion (Bt84 billion) in 2011 to $4.03 billion in 2012. To drive growth, the two countries will also strengthen cooperation on trade and investment in other sectors, ready for the opening of the Asean Economic Community in 2015. …
Moreover, under an initiative called the Greater mekong Sub-region Cross-Border Transport Agreement, the two nations will provide public transport between the border town of Aranyaprathet and Cambodia’s Poipet. It is hoped the move will lead to a growth in logistics and trade between the two countries and improve immigration procedures for travellers, including an electronic passport identification system.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thailand-and-Cambodia-to-forge-closer-trade-talks-30204979.html
Demand for quality rice seed development
April 25th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Farming, News Source, Rice
To enhance Cambodian rice yields, the government should encourage private development of rice-seed production and focus its efforts on farmers’ education and regulations that ensure the quality of seed, industry experts say.
The Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (MAFF) is the main source of high-quality seeds for distribution to Cambodian farmers.
According to David Van, deputy secretary-general of the Alliance of Rice Producers and Exporters of Cambodia, MAFF does not have the resources to supply enough high-quality seed. …
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565221/Business/demand-for-quality-rice-seed-development.html
Export Values Up 21 Per Cent
April 24th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Foreign Investment, Garment Industry, Industry, Rice, Trade
Cambodian export values increased more than 21 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, and officials said the rise was a positive sign for the Kingdom’s economic growth. …
According to the Ministry of Commerce’s export data obtained by the Post yesterday, exports reached over $1.65 billion in the first three month period this year, up from the goods exported during the same period last year, up from the goods exported during the same period last year, valued at $1.36 billion. …
The World Bank recently predicted that Cambodia’s GDP growth would reach 7.0 per cent for this year, up 0.3 percentage points from its last projection in December. …
Rann Reuy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042465194/Business/export-values-up-21-per-cent.html