Cambodia's first $15 million rice storage and drying facility made its official debut on Tuesday, while three other facilities are set to open later this week, according to insiders.
The Battambang province–based rice storage facility, which is operated by Thanakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc, received a $15 million loan from the state-owned Rural Development Bank (RDB) in early 2016.
The warehouse is set to be the first privately owned centralised storage facility with a capacity to store 200,000 tonnes of wet paddy and process the drying of 3,000 tonnes of it a day.
Phou Puy, chairman of Thanakea Srov, said that with the presence of the warehouse, good prices for farmers’ rice can be assured.
“From now on, we have enough capacity to collect paddy from farmers and ensure the quality of milled rice for buyers. Our farmers are no longer worried about market and price,” he said.
RDB also provided loans of $15 million to two other rice-milling companies, Khmer Food and Amru Rice, for the construction of rice warehouses in Kampong Thom, Prey Veng and Takeo provinces.
