Vietnamese company to provide fertiliser tech

06 August 2010
by Soeun Say
Phnom Penh Post

VIETNAM’S Five Star International Group has signed a contract with Chinese firm Jiansu Right Machinery Group to provide technology to its new US$65 million chemical fertiliser factory, according to an embassy official.

The agreement will create “the first modern fertiliser plant in Cambodia”, Vietnam embassy commercial counselor Le Bien Cuong said yesterday.

The Five Star fertiliser plant is a joint venture between Vietnam’s Five Star International Group and a subsidiary of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam in Cambodia.

Two fertiliser-processing chains will be installed by Jiansu using Japanese technology, according to the contract. The agreement was signed at Phnom Penh’s InterContinental Hotel.

Construction of the fertiliser plant began in December last year in Samrong Thom commune, Kien Svey district in Kandal province, with work slated to wrap up next year, he said.

“The plant will start operation in 2011,” Le Bien Cuong said.

The $65 million project aims for an eventual output of 500,000 tonnes of fertiliser each year, he said, in some 40 different varieties.

Once completed, the fertiliser factory will provide an estimated 500 jobs in the Kingdom, as well as providing a domestic source for the product, according to Le Bien Cuong.

Some 20 companies now import chemical fertiliser into Cambodia, according to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Its statistics show Cambodia imported more than 170,000 tonnes of fertiliser last year.