The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) has sought to expand the market of milled rice in the United Arab Emirates, stating that the negotiation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Cambodia and the UAE would give a big boost to commodity export to the market.
Its president Song Saran attended the Cambodia-UAE Business Forum held earlier this week in Abu Dhabi where he made a presentation on the potential of Cambodia’s rice sector.
Cambodia expects to boost milled rice exports to the Western Asia nation and the region as the negotiation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is being conducted, Saran said yesterday.
Under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Cambodia’s milled rice will be exported to the United Arab Emirates and the Western Asia nation more and more easily, he said.
Cambodia’s milled rice exports to the United Arab Emirates are small. So, through the negotiation of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates, it is the first opportunity to make Cambodia more widely known, he said.
“Cambodia will be able to export more rice to the United Arab Emirates,” Saran said.
Launched formally on October 24, the negotiation of the Cambodia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will likely be completed by 2023, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The Cambodian Rice Federation is providing opportunities for dialogue with relevant partners to find trading partners for Cambodia’s rice exports to those countries.
“The Cambodian Rice Federation has made great efforts to boost Cambodia’s milled rice exports in order to promote the community and farmers who grow rice, especially to contribute to our national economy,” Saran said.
Cambodia exported some 450,000 tons of milled rice to 60 international markets including nations in the Western Asia in the January-September period of this year, earning $287 million.
China remained the top buyer of Cambodia’s milled rice, purchasing 198,107 tons, or 44.09 percent, of the kingdom’s total export amount, the CRF said, citing that other countries are France, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Italy, Gabon, Brunei, Britain, and Germany, and so on.
Source: Khmer Times