Cambodia & Agriculture : Kampong Thom announces first export of processed cashew nuts to Europe

Kampong Thom, Cambodia's largest cashew producer, has welcomed the historic export of processed cashews to the European Union (EU) market by Mirarth GreenTech, a Japanese company.

Kampong Thom announces first export of processed cashew nuts to Europe

At the official event held on 21 November 2024 to mark this significant achievement, the Deputy Provincial Governor of Kampong Thom, H.E. Nhek Ban Kheng, stressed that ‘this success was not a coincidence, but the result of a concerted and strategic effort guided by a sound national cashew policy for the period 2022-2027, developed by the Royal Government of Cambodia’.

He expressed his gratitude to all parties involved for their contribution to the success of the exports and welcomed the investment by Mirarth GreenTech.

Mirarth GreenTech's annual export volume of processed cashew nuts to the EU market is currently 250 tonnes, with plans to increase this to 300 metric tonnes in the near future.

The deputy governor pointed out that Kampong Thom has twelve cashew nut processing and handicraft factories, with a combined production capacity of 78 tonnes per day. In addition, the province has eleven warehouses with a storage capacity of 18,195 tonnes per year.

The Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, H.E. Touch Bun Hour, who was also present at the event, shared the Ministry's data, which showed that Cambodia produced more than 870,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts in 2024. Of this total, 85% was exported to Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.

Kampong Thom is the largest cashew nut producer, followed by Kratie and Rattanakiri. These three provinces account for 55% of the country's total cashew area.

The government sees cashew as a potential export crop and is encouraging the processing of nuts for export to generate greater added value.

AKP