Cambodia sees 37-pct surge in rice export in 9 months

Cambodia exported 369,105 tons of milled rice in the first nine months of 2015, a 37-percent rise from the 269,370 tons over the same period last year, according to the latest report on Wednesday.

Three top buyers of Cambodian rice are China, France and Poland, according to the report released by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export.

From January to September this year, the Southeast Asian nation old 78,182 tons of rice to China, 50,266 tons to France and 41,022 tons to Poland, it said.

Hean Vanhorn, director of the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export, said types of exported rice included fragrant rice, white long grain, and parboiled long grain.

"About 64 percent of the rice was sold to Europe, 21 percent to China, 11 percent to ASEAN countries, and the rest to other countries," he said.

In 2014, Cambodia exported some 370,000 tons of milled rice, earning a gross revenue of 247 million U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The country launched a rice promotion strategy in 2010, setting a goal of exporting one million tons of milled rice by 2015. However, Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol said early this year that it was unlikely to achieve the self-imposed target due to a lack of milling capacity and funding. Endi