Thursday, September 13, 2007

Cambodian, Chinese companies ink silk deal

Sep 13, 2007
DPA

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian and a Chinese company have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will see Cambodian land cultivated to breed silk worms and a factory built to ship the raw product to China, local media said Thursday.

The MoU to cultivate mulberry plantations was signed between Cambodia's Tanimex Company Ltd and Chongqing Wintus (New Star) Trade Development Ltd, which lists Liangping Wintus Silk & Textile Ltd as its subsidiary partner, the Khmer-language daily Rasmei Kampuchea reported.

The Chinese companies are recognized by the China Chamber of Commerce and representatives from both governments were present at the signing ceremony, held Wednesday in the capital, the paper reported.

Chongqing Wintus will assist in setting up commercial mulberry farms to breed and raise the silk worms in the southern coastal province of Kampot, about 180 kilometres south-west of the capital.

The aim is for a Cambodian factory to process the silk cocoons for export, the paper quoted quoted Tanimex director Tann Sophanarith as saying.

'The ultimate aim is for a factory to be set up for processing within a very short space of time,' Sophanarith was reported as saying.

Chongqing Wintus has been operating the same business in neighboring Laos, Thailand and Vietnam for the past six years, but the success of the One Village One Product initiative finally enticed it into Cambodia.

The project is expected to boost local employment opportunities, cutting down the need for villagers to move to the city in search of work and boosting the local economy.

Chongqing is a municipality in China's central Sichuan province with a population of around 32 million people and a thriving textile industry.

It was unclear as yet how much Cambodian land would be put under cultivation or what production targets had been set.

Cambodian silk production is currently limited but the quality is world renowned.

The International Monetary Fund and other institutions as well as the Cambodian government itself have said that the country's rapid economic growth is endangered by its narrow economic base and that alternative industries to those such as garments and construction must be established to reinforce the domestic economy against possible global trends.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't they learned a lesson from Long Chin??????????????????????

Anonymous said...

The Chinese needs resources more than any other country on the planet, including America. As a result, Cambodia will be one of only numerous countries aimed to feed it's large, growing, consumer population.

China should give Cambodia every favorable trading status in the book. Afterall, china wants to keep her soft power by playing big daddy.