If you are an enthusiast of high quality local products that are in compliance with international standards, the Khmer Product Fairs this January and February in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh are the places to head in order to pick up a variety of goods from fragrances to foods to home decor.

The organisers of the fairs – held in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh – began the planning process by inviting all producers of Khmer products to step forward with their goods and prices.

Now they are also hard at work promoting their event and encouraging Cambodians, Cambodia-based expats and the few tourists that are trickling into the Kingdom to support Made in Cambodia products and Khmer cultural products by buying them at the product fairs.

“Cambodia has much to offer and much to be proud of when it comes to artisanship and handy-crafts,” said Romano Pierre-Andre, a founding partner of Beyond Retail Business Cambodia, a private company founded by retailers, arts and crafts manufacturers and marketing professionals whose mission it is to promote Cambodian products, know-how and talent.

“Our fairs in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh are the perfect occasions to proudly showcase Khmer products so we encourage Cambodia’s producers to join us and show off their wares. We are also calling upon Cambodians to take pride in Cambodia and Cambodian products and to come and meet the producers too,” he said.

Cambodian producers of home decorations, clothing, accessories, foods, agricultural goods, wellness items and fragrances will show off their wares at a series of fairs in Siem Reap and central Phnom Penh in January and February.

The fairs are organised by category of goods and each category rotates to another of the three fair locations each weekend.

Silk products that were hand-made locally are sold at a shop in Siem Reap. Heng Chivoan

According to Khmer Enterprise, a unit under the Ministry of Economy and Finance that helped with the organisation and planning of the fairs, modern Khmer products generally have high standards that can compete with those of imported products.

Producers of Khmer products who wish to take part in the fairs need to comply with certain criteria including tests related to the origin and quality of the products they are selling and information indicating that they operate in an ethically responsible manner.

“Anyone visiting the fair and buying local products can be assured that all producers have to meet certain ethical standards and responsibilities,” Pierre-Andre said. “Our aim is to show only those products that meet certain quality standards so that they are able to compete with products from overseas. We are sure that consumers visiting the fairs will be satisfied with what is on offer.”

Local producers wishing to apply to exhibit and sell their products at the fairs can do so by downloading and submitting the form available at the following link: https://bit.ly/KhmerFair.

The Khmer Products Fair starts at Angkor Parvis in Siem Reap from January 8 and then continues in Phnom Penh at the Chip Mong Noro Mall starting from January 22, with a third series of fairs held at Chip Mong Sen Sok Mall starting from January 29.

According to Khmer Enterprise, food and agro-industry products will include spices and peppers, honeys, sweets and both fresh and dried fruits and vegetables.

Fashion items and accessories will include clothes, scarves, bags, jewellery and hand-made Khmer fabrics such as silk, cotton or linen.

For home decor and gifts they have handicrafts items made from wood, stone, rattan, bamboo and water hyacinth, while natural scrubs, balms, oils, candles and perfumes made with Cambodian plants are in the wellness and fragrance categories.

Cambodian palm sugar candy being sold at a shop in Preah Dak in Siem Reap. Hong Menea

The Khmer Products Fair schedule for Angkor Parvis in Siem Reap has the wellness and fragrances fair on January 8-9, the fashion and accessories fair on January 15-16, the food and agro-industry fair on January 22-23 and the home decor and gifts fair on February 12-13.

Phnom Penh’s Khmer Product Fairs will be held in two locations:

Chip Mong Noro Mall, with the home decor and gifts fair held on January 22-23, the fashion and accessories fair on January 29-30, the food and agro-industry fair on February 5-6 and the wellness and fragrances fair on February 19-20.

The Khmer Product Fairs will also be held in Phnom Penh at Chip Mong Sen Sok Mall beginning January 29-30 with the home decor and gifts fair, then the wellness and fragrances fair on February 5-6, food and agro-industry on February 12-13 and the fashion and accessories fair on February 19-20.

The fairs are sponsored by Chip Mong, Food Panda and Angkor Parvis.

For more details contact: Khmer Enterprise:

http://www.khmerenterprise.info Beyond Retail Business Cambodia: http://www.brb-cambodia.com