Past trade fairs hosted 400 booths, but this year only 100 are scheduled at a time to adhere to social distancing measures. Heng Chivoan
The Ministry of Commerce will postpone its two latest trade fairs, which would have centred on the promotion of locally-made goods, in light of the “November 3” event.
On November 3, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto visited Cambodia and met Prime Minister Hun Sen and senior officials, and was later confirmed positive for Covid-19 in the Thai capital Bangkok.
The commerce ministry on Friday said the trade fairs were part of the fifth season of its “Buy Cambodian Campaign” and were slated to open in northern Siem Reap (November 21-24) and Preah Vihear (November 23-26) provinces.
It cautioned producers, traders, small and medium-sized enterprises that have applied for booths as well as the general public to adhere to government guidelines concerning Covid-19 and wait for an update with a rescheduled event date.
Sok Darith, vice-chairman of the commerce ministry’s One Village, One Product (OVOP) promotion working group, told The Post on Sunday that a similar exhibitions were held earlier this month in northeastern Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces.
Whereas earlier years would have seen 400 booths at the events, this year there were just 100, accounting for the social distancing measures in place, he said.
“We will have a meeting with ministry leaders to discuss the possibility of holding the trade fairs next month, when we’d hope the Covid-19 situation returns to its new normal prior to the ‘November 3’ event,” Darith said.
According to him, another “Buy Cambodian Campaign” trade fair will be held in Phnom Penh in mid-December as scheduled, featuring more than 200 booths, of which around 100 have been booked by international companies operating in the Kingdom.
The OVOP movement is a regional development programme modelled off of the Japanese original in which villages strive to create and market a single product in a bid to improve living standards for village residents.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the ministry’s trade fair in Ratanakkiri province on November 7, commerce ministry secretary of state Chhuon Dara called on local producers to strive for quality, aesthetics, safety, packaging and affordability to better serve the market and compete with foreign-made goods.
He said: “Despite the difficult circumstances of the Covid-19 crisis, the Royal Government of Cambodia has been active in negotiating market access with its trading partners and has recently signed a free trade agreement with China, which provides Cambodian goods the opportunity to penetrate further into more international markets.”
