Fostering competitiveness of fishery products in Cambodia

Food Technology, Research and Innovation Platform (FTP), a multi-stakeholder collaboration between government organizations, higher education institutions and private sector, aiming to promote R&D in the food and agri-food production sector, particularly for fishery products development in Cambodia, was launched during a hybrid event on 8 February 2022. This platform was developed as part of the EU-supported Cambodia Programme for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in the Fisheries Sector: Capture component (CAPFish) implemented by UNIDO.

‘‘FTP can help Cambodia to strengthen its capacity on advanced processing technology, research and innovation, knowledge on market trends for sustainable growth of post-harvest fishery. It can provide a good solution to tackle challenges in fishery businesses that are limited in value addition and product diversification‘’ said Ali Badarneh, Chief of the UNIDO’s Sustainable Food Systems Division. In 2021, Cambodia harvested nearly 860,000 tons of fish, equal to US$1.7 billion, which means that Cambodia is able to make only US$2 per kg from its fishery produces. Lack of innovation and value addition in processing has prevented the sector from fully reaping the economic benefits of these resources.

‘‘Contribution of higher education institutions in research and innovation is well responding to the current growth of aquaculture in Cambodia, which is at 20% annually. Diversification of fishery products that correspond to market demand is key to drive economic growth of the country, particularly to support the export of Cambodia’s fishery products to China and EU’s markets, ‘’ said Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

“With this new Platform, we are also expecting CAPFish to contribute towards the future of our of our partnership with Cambodia on the sector, and in particular on Green growth and decent jobs through value chains” said Carmen Moreno, EU Ambassador to Cambodia.

Visit the Food Technology, Research and Innovation Platform (FTP) here.

For further information contact Ali Badarneh (A.Badarneh [at] unido.org (A[dot]Badarneh[at]unido[dot]org)); Seetharama Shetty Thombathu (T.SHETTY [at] unido.org (T[dot]SHETTY[at]unido[dot]org)).