Hun Sen: SME Bank to boost agroprocessing industry

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said the upcoming government-backed bank for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME Bank) will finance firms involved in agroprocessing, particularly those creating finished products destined for the local and international markets.

Speaking to about 18,000 garment workers in Chbar Mon city in Kampong Speu province, Mr Hun Sen said the SME Bank will have a capital of $100 million and will start its funding operations soon.

“Cambodia has a lot of raw agriculture materials that can be processed into finished products for the market,” Mr Hun Sen said.

For example, he said Cambodia now produces its own wines, some of them made from palm sugar.

“We are trying to push the processing of pepper, durian, rambutan and many others as substitutes for imports. These products can also be exported.

“The government invested millions of dollars in factories, rice milling machines, silos and warehouses to boost the agricultural sector and maintain the prices of agriculture products stable,” the premier said.

Song Saran, CEO of Amru Rice, told Khmer Times it is the right time for Cambodia to process more of its raw products into finished ones, particularly since in the last two decades the Kingdom has become a supplier of raw materials to many countries around the world.

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