Investors in Cambodia’s northeast on Monday announced an investment in a cassava-processing plant in Battambang province.

Prak Phoung Kesoa, assistant CEO at Battambang Agro-Industry, said yesterday that the plant would be 100 per cent Cambodian owned.

He declined to say the size of the initial investment.

There are currently no cassava processors in the province.

Experts have recently called for an increase in domestic cassava processing.

The vast majority of cassava is sold unprocessed to Thailand, but a new move toward local investment in agro-industry could see more value-added processing in the country, the Post reported earlier this year.

Thai border restrictions have also caused problems for cassava farmers in the Kingdom’s northeast.

Reported bans on Cambodian goods such as cassava have seen a significant amount of cassava go unharvested, the Post reported.

Industry insiders hope China will become Cambodia’s new destination for processed cassava exports.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at [email protected]