Cambodia Rice Forum postponed
THE 7th Cambodia Rice Forum has been postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19 concerns, the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) announced.
The event was or ig i na l ly schedu led to be held f rom July 30-31.
The CRF maintains that suspension of the event will not affect the sector’s orders and exports
It said: “The decision to postpone the event coincides with the mounting list of international speakers and key buyers withdrawing their participation, especially those from China and a number of ASEAN and European countries.
“There was also a growing number of requests to postpone the forum from within the CRF’s members and leaders stating that they’d prefer arranging it [at a time which would ensure that it is] successful and productive.”
CRF secretar y-genera l Lun Yeng told The Post on Wednesday that the forum could be held later t his year if t he Covid-19 crisis lets up.
The first edition of the Cambodia Rice Forum was held in 2011 as a purely private-sector initiative to shore up the rice sector through the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia.
The initiative aims to share perspectives and experiences in the rice sector in search of constructive solutions, particularly in modernising the sector in line with global market trends with reference to price competitiveness, productivity growth and export promotion, the CRF has said.
Cha n Pich, genera l manager of rice miller and exporter Signatures of Asia Co Ltd, s a i d t he Ca mbod i a R ic e For um is a n i ndispensable tool for t he promotion of t he Kingdom’s rice exports to the internationa l market.
“The forum is a meaningful platform for us to showcase the potential of the rice sector to i nter nat iona l customers and prov ides an opportunit y for buyers and sellers to meet, wh ic h ha s a l way s d r i v en exports,” he said.
Ca mbod i a’s mi l l e d-r i c e exports surged 41 per cent to 397,660 tonnes in the first half of t his year from t he 281,538 tonnes shipped in the same period last year, said a Minist r y of Ag r icu lt ure, Forest r y a nd Fisher ies repor t, cit i ng dat a c ompi le d f rom phytosanitar y certif icates.
Yeng told The Post on July 1 t hat t hei r combi ned va lue was $264.5 million.
On a yearly basis, the Kingdom shipped 45.19 per cent more milled rice to the EU market, 25.20 per cent more to the Chinese market, 47.69 per cent more to the ASEAN market and 79.26 per cent more to other markets, the ministry report said.