Malaysia has shown interest in importing Cambodia’s fisheries products, following their recent purchases of Cambodian milled rice.

This information came during an October 6 meeting between Agriculture Minister Dith Tina and his Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Sabu, in Kuala Lumpur.

The discussions, which took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) meeting, underscored the importance of rice and milled rice for food security and trade between the two nations, as stated in a social media post by the ministry.

Sabu highlighted Malaysia’s eagerness to explore more import opportunities from the country’s aquaculture sector. He further confirmed his country’s intentions to import Cambodian fishery products.

Both ministers agreed to foster closer ties, promoting and backing investors from their respective nations to delve into the agriculture sector.

Currently, Cambodia ships fishery products to China, after an agreement was reached in May arranging for the export of 12 types of natural Cambodian products.

The Kingdom has exported over 450,000 tonnes of milled rice in the first nine months of the year, with a value of $327 million. Of this, exports to ASEAN countries accounted for over 45,000 tonnes, valued at $31.32 million.

While in Malaysia, Tina also participated in the 8th ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (SPS Cooperation). The meeting centred on enhancing cooperation in sanitary and phytosanitary measures and the facilitation of agricultural trade between ASEAN and China.

A joint statement released during the meeting emphasised increased collaboration. Chinese representatives conveyed their robust commitment to boosting agricultural imports from ASEAN, aligning with president Xi Jinping’s ambition to attain imports from the bloc worth $150 billion in the forthcoming years.