Ministry, Makro ink MoU to shore up agro products
Ministry, Makro ink MoU to shore up agro products
The Ministry of Commerce and Thailand’s Makro Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday on the development of value chains to supply the retailer with agro-commercial products.
The deal is part of the Accelerating Inclusive Markets for Smallholders (Aims) project.
The MoU is designed to promote the sale of Aims project products to customers in Cambodia.
The ministry’s permanent secretary of state Kem Sithan said at the signing ceremony that the current Covid-19 situation has had a serious impact on the economy, society and livelihood of people around the world.
He said Cambodia has taken many effective measures to solve the problem.
They include the Prime Minister’s recommendation that farmers strive to cultivate and promote agricultural production, including animal husbandry, rice production and planting other crops to increase supply and meet local demand.
The plan is to create new markets for farmers and potential opportunities for agro-production, in which the Aims project plays an important role.
“The Aims project and Makro Cambodia agreed to sign this MoU because we have common goals,” he said.
Sithan said those goals include establishing cooperation to promote Cambodian products through partnerships, identifying opportunities for collaborative activities and programmes of mutual benefit, creating defined collaborative opportunities.
He said the goals are aimed at ensuring benefits and key business models for each party while addressing challenges and sustainability in the context of agro-commercial production, local processing products, local SME products and marketing issues.
“This MoU is the starting point of cooperation between the two sides. In the next strategic steps, the two sides need to expand cooperation and the scope of implementation to create jobs, increase incomes for people and contribute to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.
Aims is a joint project between the government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad).
The project is led by the Ministry of Commerce to promote the prosperity of small farmers in Cambodia by increasing profits and linking markets in 18 provinces. The value chains include vegetables, free-range poultry, rice, cassava and raw silk.
The Aims project working group at the Northwest Zone Office in Siem Reap province has facilitated cooperation between the farmers who grow safe vegetables and raise free-range poultry with Makro Cambodia.
Makro in Siem Reap province bought 4,320kg of vegetables from the Aims project’s farmers and 156kgs of free-range poultry.
Makro Cambodia in Phnom Penh has purchased vegetables from farmers in the east and northeast, particularly from farmers in Kampong Cham province.
