Cambodia to bid for Iraqi rice supply

A Cambodian rice exporter is expected to take part in an Iraqi bid for 30,000 tons of milled rice late this month, a company's representative said Wednesday.

The Iraqi government has invited international tenders from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, India, Thailand, and the United States, according to Thai rice news website Oryza. The last date for submitting bids is April 26.

"We are preparing documents to join the bidding before the deadline," Son Saran, chairman and chief executive officer of Amru Rice Cambodia, a joint venture with South Korea's Hanwha Corporation, told Xinhua.

He said currently, his company owns 3 rice mills that are capable to process more than 100,000 tons of rice a year.

"This is the first time we attempt to bid for supplying a large amount of milled rice to the Iraqi government," he said. "We are not concerned about supplying capacity, but rice quality."

He said since August last year, his company has supplied more than 1,000 tons of milled rice to a private Iraqi company.

Cambodia exported 828 tons of milled rice to Iraq last year, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture. During the first quarter of 2015, the country exported another 207 tons to Iraq. Endi