Cambodia Offers Rice To Indonesia

SIEM RIEP (Cambodia), Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Cambodia has requested that Indonesia buy rice from that country and invest in post-harvest business, reports Antara news agency.

Indonesian ambassador to Cambodia Soehardjono Sastromihardjo said Monday that Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen made the request to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the Asean Summit in Bali last year.

"I myself heard (prime minister) Hun Sen made (the request) directly to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when they met at the Asean Summit in Bali last year," he said on the sidelines of Asean senior officials' meeting ahead of the 44th Asean Economic Ministers' Meeting here.

Hun Sen is scheduled to open the Asean Economic Ministers' Meeting that would discuss trade and investment cooperation as well as food security.

Indonesian trade minister Gita Wirjawan arrived here on Sunday for the meeting.

Cambodia has been known as an agrarian country with 80 per cent of its population being farmers. It produces 8.25 million tonnes of rice in 2011 and has set a target of exporting 180,000 tonnes of its rice this year.

"Until 2015 Cambodia expects to export minimally one million tonnes of rice. The quality of its rice is good and it is also cheaper," said Soehardjono, who was also present at the meeting between Hun Sen and Susilo in Bali.

Mohamad Helmi, the director of business development of PT Galuh Prabutrijaya that supplies fertilisers to Cambodia, confirmed that the quality of Cambodia`s rice is not inferior compared to that of Vietnam and Thailand.

"The price of Cambodia's best quality rice is around US$450 per tonne while that of Thailand is up to US$600 per tonne" he said.

Besides requesting Indonesia to import rice from Cambodia Hun Sen has also asked Indonesian investors to invest in the post-harvest business,.

"They do not have sufficient rice hulling facilities and therefore they have so far sent their unhulled rice to Vietnam and Thailand," he said.

Cambodia has been targeting Europe and the US for its rice export markets and South Korea, China, Japan and Indonesia in the Asian markets.

According to Antara Cambodian daily The Phnom Penh had at end March this year reported Cambodia's plan to sign an agreement with Indonesia for the export of 20,000 tonnes of rice to Indonesia at a price f US$400 per tonne.

The president director of logistics company PT Bulog, Sutarto Alimoeso, has said that discussions were held since a year ago for the rice export plan but no agreement yet been signed.

"We have been exploring rice imports from other countries with regard to preventing monopoly that could raise the price of rice," Antara quoted him as saying.

-- BERNAMA