Cambodia can offer strategic support to UAE's food security program: Al Mansouri (updated)

http://www.wam.org.ae/
Oct 17, 2009



WAM Dubai, October 17, 2009: During an official visit to Cambodia, His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, stressed that the Cambodian agriculture sector serves as a strategic support for the UAE's food security programme.

The UAE delegation headed by Al Mansouri has visited various ministries and senior Cambodian officials including the Prime Minister and Ministers of Economy, Agriculture, Transport, Telecommunication, Water and Environment.

The discussions with Cambodian government mainly focused on enhancing cooperation in the agriculture sector and ways to explore investments in this vital sector, which is regarded as the backbone of the Cambodian economy, contributing to 29 per cent of the GDP and supporting 85 per cent of the workforce of the country.

Al Mansouri said during his meeting with the Cambodian Minister of agriculture that the UAE is keen to explore the opportunities in rice cultivation in Cambodia, and will form a technical team which will visit Cambodia to check on-ground possibilities of investing in Cambodian farmlands.

Al Mansouri visited the Rice Research Centre in Cambodia and evaluated the varities of rice and took samples to be tested in the UAE agricultural labs, to check its quality and their suitability for UAE consumers.

He underlined that: "Food security is a high priority to the UAE and we look forward to building a strategic food reserve that can meet the needs of the whole region. The Cambodian government is exerting huge efforts to develop its agriculture infrastructure and we are keen to study all possibilities and opportunities that can lead to strategic partnerships with Cambodia. We will form a specialized team to visit Cambodia to test the soil and water and to explore its agricultural potential to meet our food security programme.

WAM/MN

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