Cambodia earned 2.09 billion USD from exporting agricultural products in the first quarter 2021, said Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon.

The Khmer Times cited Sakhon as saying that his ministry has promoted and helped diversify the sector by assisting it to switch from traditional methods of farming to more modern methods suited for the wider international market.

The ministry has been busy preparing measures to open the marketplace for domestic agriculture, he said, mentioning the recent approval by the General Administration of Customs of China for the shipment of Cambodia’s fresh mangoes to China.

The free-trade agreement (FTA) with China and the soon to be ratified FTA with the Republic of Korea are signs that trade volume will increase in the sector and open up even more opportunities for exports, the official added.

Last year, China committed to the importation of 500,000 tonnes of “quality” mangoes from Cambodia.

In 2020, Cambodia exported 945,274 tonnes of fresh mangoes worth approximately 473.2 million USD to the European Union, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast that the country’s agricultural sector will grow by 1.3 percent in 2021 and 1.2 percent in 2022. It was impacted by last year’s floods but will rebound with growth in aquaculture and an increase in exports to the Chinese market.

Source from: Vietnam Plus(2021). Cambodia: Agricultural Exports Surpass 2 Billion USD in Q1. Retrieved from: Vietnam Plus, World(May 04, 2021).  https://en.vietnamplus.vn/cambodia-agricultural-exports-surpass-2-billion-usd-in-q1/200959.vnp