As part of ongoing efforts to boost exports of Cambodian mangoes, the Mong Riththy Group, an agro-industrial conglomerate that is heavily invested in the mango sector, announced yesterday that it was in negotiations to import drying machinery, which would greatly increase production of dried mango of a standard acceptable to foreign markets. There is a demand for dried mango, especially from South Korea, which signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last year to import mango from five Cambodian provinces, said Tan Monivan, vice president of Mong Riththy Group yesterday.
 

“As such, it makes sense to modernize and increase drying capabilities so that we can be ready to export dried mango,” said Mr. Monivan. He said his company was speaking with companies in South Korea, Japan and in Europe about the machines, which cost up to $3 million each, although he declined to say how many the group was looking to import.
 

“We cannot set a specific number of machines we need right now,” Mr. Monivan said. “What is important now is we have to make [them] arrive first, and then we expect that [mango] exports will shortly follow.”   Hean Vanhan, under-secretary of state at the Agriculture Ministry, explained that the current limited exports of mangoes is directly linked to the lack of suitable drying machinery.