DAP News. Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

via Khmer NZ

Cambodia Launches Policy of Paddy Production and Rice Export

Tuesday, 17 August 2010 10:09 DAP NEWS / VIBOL

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, AUGUST 17, 2010-The Cambodian government on Tuesday launched the policy of paddy production and rice export in a move to enlarge the rice production and strengthen the strategy of growing rice production with high production and set up long term of agricultural infrastructure in the country.

“The policy paper on the promotion of paddy production and rice export aims at promoting agricultural development at a new pace and in a new scale that broaden and strengthen the foundation of economic growth while accelerating poverty reduction and improving the people’s live hoods,” Prime Minister Hun Sen told the launching ceremony that joined by hundreds of participants from private sectors, governmental officials and foreign diplomats.

The main and sole purposes of this policy paper us to increase paddy production and rice export, “he added. This is first important step towards the promotion of the production and export of other agricultural products, he stresses.

The potentials for rice production in the country is to increase seasons of growing rice and dry soil during dry season that our farmers did not plant rice, “he said, adding that we need private sectors and foreign investors to join to enlarge this rice production to export to foreign markets with high standards for their international markets.

This document will help local farmers through buying the rice products and techniques of growing rice, rice seed selection with high product, he noted.

Last year, Cambodia harvested with over 7 million tons of rice production with a surplus of 3 million tons of rice for export. Cambodia plans to export one million ton of milled rice product to foreign markets. Usually, Cambodian rice product exports to Vietnam and Thailand without recycling. That led the country to lose benefits from husks and barns for feeding animal stocks and force labor. 80 percent of Cambodians grow agricultural crops.

In a year, Cambodia lost about 600 million US dollars from rice production that exported without recycling, PM Hun Sen said, adding that if we could export 3 million tons of milled rice product to foreign markets with high standard, we could earn about 2100 million US dollars per year.

Cambodia could be in fourth country for exporting rice product in the world after Vietnam and Thailand and Burma. We are trying to be world’s largest rice export. Currently, in average a hectare of land, it provided about 2.6 tons of rice. And the government is trying to push to 3 -6 tons per hectare to. Cambodia has about over one million of hectare of land for grown rice. In Cambodia, a ton of simple rice is worth about 6-700 US dollar.

Mekong Nations Gather to Chart Regional Cooperation for Next Decade

Tuesday, 17 August 2010 07:26 DAP NEWS / Soy Sophea

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, AUGUST 17, 2010-Phnom Penh-Ministers from the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) will meet in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on 20 August for the 16th GMS Ministerial Meeting to discuss broad directions for the GMS long-term strategic framework covering the next ten years (2012-2022), according to ADB’s press statement on Tuesday.

With the theme, "GMS in the Next Decade: New Frontiers of Cooperation," representatives from Cambodia, People's Republic of China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, along with officials from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), are expected to also

endorse a plan of actions for improved transport and trade facilitation in the GMS, which will help bolster economic growth in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Since 1992, the six GMS countries have participated in a comprehensive program of economic cooperation covering transport, energy, telecommunications, human resource development, environment and natural resources management, trade facilitation, private investment, tourism, and agriculture with the support of ADB and other development partners.

"In just one generation, Mekong nations have moved from conflict to economic cooperation, making dramatic progress in fighting poverty and fostering greater prosperity,” said Kunio Senga, Director General in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. “With the foundation being established for the next decade, we expect the GMS countries to move their regional cooperation to even higher levels, encompassing second-generation initiatives in software issues related to infrastructure connectivity.”

The ADB official hopes that the GMS countries, through their respective ministers, will chart measures to strengthen physical infrastructure, streamline cross-border transactions and transport costs, improve business environment, and ensure social and environmental protection in the subregion.

ADB promotes regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific to help developing countries address regional challenges and opportunities through collective actions. Such multi-country economic development efforts contribute to increased trade and investment and overall economicgrowth while also improving regional stability.

ADB supports GMS nations’ efforts to modernize through the construction of international standard roads, ports, railways, power generation facilities, clean water and sanitation services.

ADB also provides support for 'soft sector' enhancement, including trade and transport agreements, and works with Mekong nations to enhance environmental protection measures, support clean energy solutions, and bolster climate change mitigation efforts. ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.