A Japan energy company yesterday said it planned to build a rice mill fuelled by rice husks in Cambodia’s Takeo province.

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Enegry (MIME) confirming cooperation on the mill powered by renewable energy.

Construction of the mill will conclude in June next year and production will start in 2013, NEDO Chairman Kazuo Furukawa said. He claimed the mill would set the standard in Cambodia for quality and efficiency in rice milling.

“The project will become an example for rice millers throughout the country,” he said at the signing ceremony.

Japanese technicians are already working at the planned site in Daun Keo town, Takeo province, Kazuo Furukawa added. MIME secretary of state Sat Samy said that while Cambodia’s rice milling standards still lag behind the rest of the region, the project will be in line with the government’s policy goals.

Rice millers in Takeo supported the project. Duong Heng, a local miller in the province, said the mill will offer a model for the country’s agriculture sector.

“It’s good experience for us because we are very close to [the proposed mill site],” Duong Heng said yesterday, adding that there are 10 large rice mills in the area that are powered by oil, which does not comply with international standards.