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Cambodia: Partnership to drive food-processing
Khmer Enterprise, a unit under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Cambodia Australia Agricultural Value Chain Program (CAVAC), and the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC), inked a partnership agreement to driving food-processing innovations through small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom.
The partnership aims to help the agricultural-processing industry grow and attract additional domestic and international investment. The agri-industry development is critical given that the majority of Cambodian agricultural export commodities are not processed locally.
This means that this collaboration creates new opportunities to add value and generates additional jobs in the agriculture sector, which currently accounts for around 22 percent of the gross domestic products of the country. Dr Vanmunin Chhieng, chief executive officer of Khmer Enterprise (KE), said that with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Khmer Enterprise has a vision to become the National Platform for promoting entrepreneurial activities. He said that this project aligns perfectly with one of the prioritised sectors in our mandate, which is agro-processing. “In addition to agri-food product development support, SME entrepreneurs can also access other KE (Khmer Enterprise) programmes such as capacity upgrading and co-investment opportunities,” said Vanmunin.
Boosting agriculture and food production is an important part of Australia’s broader contribution to Cambodia’s COVID-19 recovery, said Pablo Kang, Australian ambassador to Cambodia. He said that Australia, through CAVAC, has been supporting Cambodia’s agri-food sector for many years. “We are now pleased to be collaborating with Khmer Enterprise and ITC to build the foundations for a high-quality food product industry in Cambodia, led by small and medium Cambodian enterprises,” Kang said.
With this partnership, KE, CAVAC – an Australian government programme improving the resilience and competitiveness of Cambodia’s agriculture sector, and the ITC, a public university under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport are jointly developing a public-industry-academia platform, aiming to provide SMEs with financial and technical assistance to bring new agri-food products to the market. As part of this partnership, KE and CAVAC will provide raw materials, technical expertise and financial assistance to participating SMEs, said the agreement. Meanwhile, ITC will provide additional technical expertise and offer its facilities to support the agri-food processing development process. SMEs interested in participating in this project can consult with ITC to develop a proposal and then submit it to CAVAC for review.
Once approved, the awardees will work with ITC on product innovation and technology transfer. The project will start accepting proposals from mid-June.
Dr Om Romny, director of ITC, pointed out that ITC’s vision is to be a leading university in Cambodia.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50730161/partnership-to-drive-food-processing/