PHNOM PENH: Cambodia is ready to export 30,000 tonnes of milled rice to East Timor soon, as economic ties between the two nations are set to improve.
Cambodian Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak said they were ready to start shipping the rice and was only waiting for the green light from East Timor.
The progress of economic ties between the nations comes after a meeting in April between the Commerce Ministry, Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) and East Timor ambassador to Cambodia Ermenegildo "Kupa" Lopes.
Lopes said East Timor was intent on importing rice from Cambodia and added that East Timor could in return, export crops to Cambodia as well.
He said his country could provide 3,000 fuel sector jobs to Cambodians, too.
CRF president Song Saran told The Phnom Penh Post that Cambodia had enough white rice stockpiled to meet East Timor's demand.
"With the efforts of the Cambodian government, we hope that East Timor will become a new strong market for Cambodian rice exporters."
He said East Timor had never bought rice from Cambodia and historically relied on Vietnam to satisfy its demand.
CRF board chairman Hun Lak previously said East Timor had first offered to buy rice from Cambodia to prevent a food shortage due to Covid-19.
The country has yet to specify an amount.
Lak said the government had requested East Timor to send a letter to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and International Cooperation outlining the specifications of their order.
At a meeting with Lopes on May 27, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia wanted East Timor to set up a representative office for its rice-purchasing companies in Cambodia.
Hun Sen said he wanted the companies to build warehouses, factories and silos, as well as establish purchasing channels to facilitate rice exports to East Timor.
Rice export reports show that in the first five months of this year, Cambodia exported 356,097 tonnes of rice to the international market, a more than 42 per cent year-on-year increase.
Last year, the kingdom exported 250,172 tonnes of rice worth US$241 million.
East Timor imported 6,800 tonnes of rice in the first two months of this year, around 5,000 tonnes less than the same period last year, Port Authority of Timor-Leste data shows.