Pioneering silk centre opens

06 Jun 2019 2055 | Business & Trade Fairs

The Khmer Silk Centre, an institution dedicated to research in the silk industry and to revitalising the weaving sector, was launched yesterday at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

The centre, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, started as an initiative of RUPP in 2017 and was built with contributions from the Japanese government ($90,000) and the United Nations Development Programme ($16,000).

It aims to boost silk production in a country where silk imports dominate the market, and where a lack of professionals, research facilities, and labour have severely limited output in the last decades.

The centre’s research activities will focus on silkworms and mulberry trees with the aim of producing healthy worms that will be distributed to weaving communities, initially in the provinces of Kampong Speu, Mondulkiri, and Kampong Chhnang.

About 50 families in these provinces will benefit from silkworms grown at the new facility as well as from technical assistance from its experts.

Among many other applications, the silkworms produced at the centre will be used to produce cosmetics.

Speaking at the launch yesterday, Japanese Ambassador Hidehisa Horinouchi said the centre represents an important contribution to Cambodian silk.

“This project will contribute to improving the living standards of Cambodian people. It will be a place where stakeholders in the weaving sector, both state and private sector, cooperate to restore Khmer silk.