The first ever Sustainable Rice Summit, in Cambodia, was held on Feb. 21 in Siem Reap province, where 180 representatives from agriculture cooperatives, rice millers, and related stakeholders discussed about the improvement of rice sector in the country.

The one-day summit was organised by Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Amru Rice, and Cambodian Agriculture Cooperative Corporation Plc (CACC) with the support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

The summit was chaired by Mey Kalyan, Senior Adviser of Supreme National Economic Council and Chairperson of CACC, and CRF President Mr. Song Saran.

With the theme “Strengthening Agricultural Cooperatives in Cambodia”, the event included some important panelist discussion sessions on various topics such as supporting cooperatives, access to finance through digital platform and innovations, access to finance for smallholder farmers, sustainable rice value chain in Cambodia and the way of moving forward, and building inclusive and sustainable rice value chain, according to CRF.

Last year, Cambodia exported about 620,000 tons of milled rice to foreign markets.

CRF President Mr. Song Saran said that Cambodia sets to export at least one million tons of milled rice by 2023. AKP