1st Chinese animal feed mill launches in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The first Chinese animal feed mill officially inaugurated here on Sunday, bringing the number of the same kind of factories in the country to five, said Cambodian Minister of Agriculture.

"The factory is a new achievement of good cooperation between the governments and the peoples of Cambodia and China," the minister Chan Sarun said during the inauguration of the Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia), situated in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, some 18 kilometers west of the central Phnom Penh.

"The mill is very important to boost the development of the country's animal feeding industry," he said.

The minister said that currently the demand of animal feed is about 700,000 tons per year, but the four full-functioning factories can produce only 170,000 tons a year, so the rest is imported.

The Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia) would be capable to produce about 57,000 tons a year, so it would increase the supply of animal food locally and can reduce the reliance on the imports, he added.

Meanwhile, Jin Yuan, Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy to Cambodia, said that the inauguration of the factory reflected closer relation between China and Cambodia on trade and investment.

He added that China is the largest investor in Cambodia with the accumulative investments of more than eight billion U.S. dollars so far.

The Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia) is a joint-venture between China's New Hope Group holding 90 percent stake and Japan' s animal feed Sojitz Corporation owning the remaining stake, Deng Xiaohua, a manager of China's New Hope Group, said at the inauguration ceremony.

China's New Hope Group is one of China's largest animal feed producers.

The construction of the Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness (Cambodia) mill had been started early this year on the land of 33,500 square meters and completed last month, costing six million U.S. dollars.

The factory employs about 100 Cambodian workers.

"The mill has been equipped with sophisticated technologies and is capable to produce a good quality of animal food for pigs and poultry," he said.