August 30, 2011

 

Cambodia inaugurates first Chinese animal feed mill

 

 

Cambodia officially inaugurated the first Chinese animal feed mill in the country on Sunday (Aug 28), bringing the number of the same kind of factories in the country to five, said Cambodian Minister of Agriculture.

 

"The factory is a new achievement of good cooperation between the governments and the peoples of Cambodia and China," the minister Chan Sarun said during the inauguration of the Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia), situated in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, some 18 kilometres west of the central Phnom Penh. "The mill is very important to boost the development of the country's animal feeding industry," he said. The minister said that currently the demand of animal feed is about 700,000 tonnes/year, but the four full-functioning factories can produce only 170,000/year, so the rest is imported, according to the news agency.

 

The Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia) would be capable to produce about 57,000 tonnes/year, so it would increase the supply of animal food locally and can reduce the reliance on the imports, he added. Meanwhile, Jin Yuan, Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy to Cambodia, said that the inauguration of the factory reflected closer relation between China and Cambodia on trade and investment.

 

He added that China is the largest investor in Cambodia with the accumulative investments of more than US$8 billion so far. The Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia) is a joint-venture between China's New Hope Group holding 90% stake and Japan's Sojitz Corporation owning the remaining stake, Xinhua reported Deng Xiaohua, a manager of China's New Hope Group.