USDA’s $17 Million Fish Farming Project
Phnom Penh: Kandal, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Battambang, Pursat and Kampong Cham in Cambodia have been funded $17 million by the US Government for the development and development of freshwater aquaculture.
The direct loan project from the US Department of Agriculture is for program implementation in line with the strategic plan for aquaculture development of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
On January 31, 2019, at Cambodiana Hotel, there was a ceremony to launch the Commercialization of Aquaculture for Sustainable Trade (CAST) project with Vong Sakhorn, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Michael Newbill, Embassy Representative of the United States The meeting was attended by Megan Francic, US Department of Agriculture, Jim Hershey, CAST Project Manager in Cambodia, representatives of civil society organizations and the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, totaling 70 people.
The project will help accelerate the growth of offspring, breeding and feed, and strengthen all price chain linkages from breeding to producers, buyers and distributors. Cambodia will benefit from increasing confidence and access to high quality fish and standardized fish. In addition, the project will help the Cambodian economy by exporting fish products to international markets and supplying quality domestic markets.
On the occasion of the launching ceremony of the CAST project in Cambodia, Michael Newbill said that the CAST is an important project to contribute to fisheries sub-sector development in Cambodia, especially for technical development and aquaculture technology to ensure the sustainability of fisheries in Cambodia and to improve the quality and product standards. In addition, CAST will also help link trade ties between Cambodia and the United States.
In response, the minister thanked the US government for its support and participation in the actual Cambodian economic development, as the project demonstrated the US position to support the policy of the Royal Government of Cambodia. He also stressed that the Royal Government of Cambodia considered agriculture as a priority sector that played an important role in contributing to the sustainability of Cambodia’s economic growth, ensuring equitable food security and promoting national economic development.
The minister added that the aquaculture sector in Cambodia is showing signs of remarkable growth, while the sector is also facing challenges such as the quality of fish, due to the lack of access to technology. Recently, sanitary requirements, hygiene and market conditions have become interconnected between local and intercultural markets.
He added that CAST Cambodia is therefore necessary and timely to achieve the goal of coordinating the supply of high quality fish in Cambodia in the context of globalization.
