Phnom Penh (FN), April 1 - Hong Kong's Green Leader (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. has invested US$20 million to build the world's largest cassava and ethanol biofuel processing plant with the potential to use up to 500,000 tons of cassava to produce 130,000 tons of flour per year and 2 million tonnes over a 5-year period, according to Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture.

The largest cassava processing factory groundbreaking was officially launched in Kratie on Sunday, presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly, Chairman of the Council for Agricultural Rehabilitation and Rural Development, accompanied by Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

According to the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cambodia is currently the 8th largest producer of cassava in the world and fourth in Southeast Asia. Given this tremendous potential, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture on January 29, 2018 under the presidency of Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly for the purpose of setting up a plant for processing products and for export.

Zhan Sanhuo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Green Leader, said that in the next five years, the company will build 20 factories in a province with potential to produce cassava, reducing the export of raw materials to neighboring countries. The company will plant more than 10,000 hectares in response to the demand. In addition, the company will apply contract farming with its production partners, providing fertilizers, seeds, capital, and planting techniques. The plant will use the most advanced technology to process cassava starch with international standard quality.

Local people and companies have expressed hope and confidence that the market problem of cassava in Tbong Khmum, Kampong Cham and Kratie will be solved effectively.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Cambodia has 675,000 hectares of agrarian land. In 2017, Cambodia harvested 14.8 million tonnes of cassava.
=FRESH NEWS