US turns to Cambodia rice market

[geovalin]

Hor Kimsay

Cambodia's rice exporters are eager to sell more of their goods in the United States and tap into the world’s largest economy.

Speaking at the International Export Market Research for Cambodian Rice seminar in Phnom Penh yesterday, Song Saran, CEO of Amru Rice Cambodia, one of the country’s largest exporters, said Thailand’s jasmine rice has already made inroads into the US, and Cambodia’s fragrant variety was on a par in terms of quality.

“We are going to [export] to the US, of course, 100 per cent, because the US is a very big market and has potential for Cambodia,” he said.

Despite being a major export destination for garments manufactured in Cambodia, the US is still low on the totem pole when it comes to rice, government data show.

Of the nearly 379,000 tons of rice exported last year, just 1,780 tons went to the US, ranking it 26th among 66 countries.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/us-turns-cambodia-rice-market