Kuwait and Cambodia to Strengthen Diplomatic Ties, Agricultural Cooperation

By Soy Sophea

Cambodia and the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation of Kuwait agreed Monday to strengthen agricultural ties. The result should be a future boom in agricultural production, according to the Cambodian Government Spokesman and Minister for Information, Khieu Kanharith.

The Kuwaiti Prime Minister and his delegation arrived on August 3 for a three-day official visit to Cambodia in response to the Cambodian Premier’s invitation.

“The Kuwaiti Premier said Cambodia has great potential for increased agricultural activity due to good weather conditions and industrious people,” Kanharith, told reporters after a meeting between the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Phnom Penh.

The Kuwaiti Premier advised Cambodia to increase her rice production and export capacity to match that of Thailand, which exports around eight million tons annually, or Vietnam, which exports around four to five million tons. Cambodia has a competitive advantage over both these nations, being blessed with plentiful supplies of water, land and labor, Kanharith said.

Kuwait may be rich in oil, but her landmass is mostly parched desert unsuitable for farming. In contrast, Cambodia is ideally suited to agricultural production, but only uses around a third of Her agricultural land; furthermore, farming methods remain comparatively primitive and provide low yields. Kanharith therefore predicted a supportive relationship wherein “Kuwait has money, but Cambodia has the fertile land and hardworking people,” he concluded. “Kuwait can make Cambodia a truly powerful, world class agricultural nation in the future.”

The two leaders presided over the signing ceremony in which five agreements were inked, defining economic cooperation, trade policies, investment opportunities, foreign affairs cooperation and civil aviation matters, the Minister told reporters. The general tenor of the meeting was one in which the “Prime Minister [welcomed] private Kuwaiti investment in Cambodia. This has great potential in helping to promote Cambodian economic development.”

Kuwait has not yet disclosed the extent of its agricultural investment, but Khieu Kanharith said Kuwait can either invest directly or as a partner with Cambodian investors.

“Research is being conducted to find the right place for production and export to Kuwait as was the case with Qatar in the past,” the Spokesman said. “We do not allow foreign nationals to buy land. But what we can do as is being done with a number of farmers growing corn and tobacco—we supply the seed and set the purchase price contractually.”

“If the price is high in the future, we will buy the crop from the farmer at the reigning price. If the price drops, we will buy the crop at the minimum price set in the contract. We will also allow farmers to borrow capital possibly without paying interest,” he added.

Prime Minister Hun Sen also requested Kuwait to extend low-interest loans to Cambodia for the development of infrastructure such as roads and irrigation systems, Kanharith said.

He said that Kuwait also wants to open its permanent embassy to Cambodia based in Phnom Penh to strengthen the two nation ties.

Sok Chamroeun, President of Cambodia’s Farmers Association, told the Cambodia Weekly that, his members are happy to hear the good news and he hoped that Kuwait would be able to bring prosperity to Cambodia.

Chamroen, who controls 2,000 hectares of dry farming land along the Mekong delta in Kandal province where high yields of four to five tons of rice per year are produced, said that, “We have farmers and fertile land; I think if we have Kuwaiti investors in our area, the yield will be doubled.”

“Technical assistance, human resources and raw materials are crucial areas of concentration, if a doubling of yields is to be the goal.” he said.

He said that his area alone could produce at least 8,000 tons of rice per year.

“With sufficient investment, proper irrigation systems, good rice seed and scientific growing methods, we can increase our current rice output four to five times,” he added.

Yang Saing Koma, Director of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), also suggested that to increase the rice yield, besides proper irrigation systems, it is necessary to have good seed as well; but this will be nothing if the farmers are not trained to use this improved raw material in a rational and scientific manner.