Local firm hopes new banana crop will be appealing to China

13 Aug 2018  2054 | Cambodia Travel News

Cambodia and China have signed a joint phytosanitary protocol for banana exports – a move that will open the door for the Kingdom to export more fruits to the world’s largest consumer market.

Longmate Agriculture Co Ltd, a joint venture between local, Chinese and Hong Kong investors, has invested millions of dollars in a banana plantation in Kampot province’s Chhou district to tap the potential of the crop.

The Post’s Cheng Sokhorng sat down with Hun Lak, the company’s director, to talk about the potential of banana exports and how farmers will benefit from the new markets.

Why did you decide to invest in a banana plantation?

Cambodia is outstanding in the rice industry and our rice exports are already well known. The Ministry of Agriculture is promoting the export of fruits such as longan, dragon fruit, durian, mango and banana.

Bananas have potential and there is a high demand for it in the international market.

We have the right technicians and a variety of banana from abroad called Musa Cavendishii, so we decided to plant bananas on our land.

We have a passion to show the international market that we have the capacity to produce quality bananas to supply the world market.

How big was your investment in the banana plantation?

We spent over a year studying the plantation soil before we started. Our plot is 1,000 hectares, so we invested a total of $32 million with our two partners from Hong Kong and China.

In the first phase, we planted 400 hectares with each planted with 2,500 banana trees. It takes 10 months to harvest the first batch.

When do you expect to export to China?

We are now preparing documentation to meet the criteria. We plan to be among the first Cambodian banana exporters to China by January next year.

Based on our target, we expect to export four or five 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). And then we will continue to raise production to keep up with demand.

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