Chief Cambodia Holding, a Hong Kong-based brokerage firm, started its operations in Phnom Penh yesterday. The company aims to strengthen Cambodian agricultural products, a company official said.

The company reserved $100 million investment capital to connect domestic agricultural producers to the market, Director of Chief Cambodia Holding Te Tea Sieng said.  

“So far, our agricultural products are searching for a market while the market is waiting for our products,” Te Tea Sieng told reporters.

“We will work on this mismatch, because funding and market access are our specialties.”

Agricultural experts say there are several obstacles hindering growth in the agricultural sector: limited budgets, lack of knowledge about how to improve yields’ quality, and how to access markets.

Yang Saing Koma, president of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), said due to limited funding and high interest rates, local firms cannot allocate an agricultural stock during harvest time, which is why products flow out of the country.

“If it is a real investment, this new company will contribute to strengthen production,” he said.

Song Saran, president of exporter Amru Rice Cambodia, told the Post yesterday that shortage of finances to buy paddy from farmers is still the major issue for rice millers.

“If they truly commit and the criteria from the company are acceptable, they will prosper,” Saran said. “However, we need time to build trust whether it is a real investor and a long term operator.”