Following an agreement signed between both countries in 2015, Cambodia expects to export its first shipment of mangoes to South Korea in October. Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, on Saturday said the exports will be done by Hyundai Agro (Cambodia), a joint venture between Hyundai Corporation and local partner Mao Legacy which has a 400 hectare orchard in Kampong Speu province.

“The company completed a Vapor Heat Treatment (VHT) facility to inspect the quality of the fruit to meet South Korea’s Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency’s requirements for mangoes to be exported to the country,” he said. “The APQA inspection will be made and the company plans to export fresh mangoes from Cambodia to South Korea in October.”

“Mangoes are one of the potential agricultural products for export from Cambodia, so the government has worked actively to open more markets for the fruit. The government has provided technical knowhow to farmers to help them produce agricultural products which meet international standards,” Mr Sakhon added.

Currently, Cambodians mangoes are being exported to EU countries by Kingdom Fruits International, a subsidiary of Mong Reththy Group.

Export to Thailand and Vietnam  
Cambodia also exports mangoes to Thailand and Vietnam and the Agriculture Minister says the Kingdom is in talks with China, Japan and the US to export the fruit to those countries. The lack of facilities to process and package the fruit have forced Cambodian farmers to export the unsterilized fruit at lower than marker prices to Vietnam and Thailand, according to In Chayvan, president of the Kampong Speu Mango Association.

According to information, Cambodia’s total mango plantations cover 105,300 hectares of land and produce 1.2 tonnes of the fruit yearly.