Q1/ Could you give us an overview of the agricultural sector in Cambodia?

A1/ First of all I would like to give you a quick overview of the policy of the royal Government of Cambodia. We have set, in order to reach a sustainable development and reduce poverty, several priorities in different sectors. The first priority is the agricultural sector and the irrigation system. Second is the development of basic infrastructure like roads and streets. Third is the development of power with a reliable electricity network. The fourth is about development of industry and fifth is the tourism industry.

Among these 5 sectors of course I will focus on the agricultural sector, which is under the responsibility of this ministry. As you know nowadays the agricultural sector in Cambodia is one of the top sectors of the economy of the country. It represents about 40% of the GDP and employs not less than ¾ of the population. In fact 85% of the population is living in rural areas, amongst this people 75% are farmers and rely on the agriculture for their subsistence. 90% of these farmers are considered as poor people. This situation underlines the top priority of the RGC (Royal Government of Cambodia) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which is to contribute to the development of the economy and poverty reduction, in other terms the social development of the country.

Q2/ In order to create a strong agricultural sector, which is one of your priorities, mechanization and industrialization are needed. What measures are being implemented to develop this?

A2/ Before I give you the details of the strategic mechanisms to strengthen the agricultural sector in Cambodia, I would like to discuss the policy of the RGC for the development of the agricultural sector. Concerning important historical facts and the actual situation of the agricultural sector in Cambodia there are several points to take into consideration to understand and develop our agriculture.

- An important point is the legal framework that is essential to develop the sector. After 1979, there was an important issue; the legal right of land. This has been resolved through the years and especially with the recent publication of a new Land Law that gives real advantages to investors, and in addition the government's tax exemption policy on agricultural land for our farmers. The land management is an important point of our policy as we need to ensure the right on land utilization for investors, farmers and state agencies for a short or long term practice.

- You have also to consider the state of infrastructure. Nowadays its rehabilitation is essential in order to allow the transportation and exportation of agricultural products. We have to reduce the gap in between the rural and other areas of the country. We already implement 10.000 km of rural roads but there is still a lot to do in this aspect.

- The Land mine clearing is also an important point as the civil war have been going on for more than 30 years in the country and we definitely need to secure the agricultural land. The rehabilitation is indeed a crucial point for the development of our agricultural sector. This has been and still represents an important investment, as the cost of land mine clearing per hectare is around 7000 USD. Once the land has been rehabilitated, it has to be reallocated to the people.

- A follow-up of the agricultural activity is also needed to make sure how the farmers apply the use of this new technologies and new farming techniques.

- You also have to consider the cultural aspects of the development of the agriculture in Cambodia. The Agriculture is an ancestral practice based on a monoculture, the rice. As you know Cambodia has two seasons; the rainy season, from April to October, and the dry season. Our farmers are used to work only during the rainy seasons and live on their earnings during the rest of the year. If we look at it on a capitalism point of view, we are losing 6 months of productivity.

- I have to underline too the land repartition through the country. In the South and East you will found that farmers own land sized in between 0,5 and 1 hectare. On the other hand in the North and West of the country the average size of land is from 2 to 5 hectares. Therefore, we have to rationally apply the scales of the utilization of machinery and irrigation scheme according to the above land repartition aspects.

Q3/ Which are the main priorities of the government for the agricultural sector?

A3/ Based on the precedent facts the ministry has established the main priorities to develop the agricultural sector:

- The diversification of our agriculture. We have to get out of the traditional and ancestral monoculture and work the land during the two seasons of the year. We can for instance develop the aquaculture, where we have already experienced success, or products such as the tobacco, cashew nuts and coffee destined to the agro-industrial sector. We must also encourage our farmers to start raising animals for their own subsistence and also as helpers. And then, encourage them to intensify the raising it in order to sale animal products. They can also diversify through the artisan production, such as baskets in bamboo. All these points aim to increase the farmer's incomes.

- Encourage the investment on the Agro-industrial sector. This point lies in the centre of our development policy in order to give a way out for the production and also create an added value. A social and economic land concession system will be implemented to encourage investments in this area.

- The introduction of new technologies and know how. This will help increase the production and profitability and therefore increase the investment. We must implement and intensify mix-cropping system through the IPM Program (integrated pest management). We must learn to our farmers marketing concepts in order for them to be able to export their production after words.

- The modernisation and mechanisation of the sector. We have to give the means to our farmers to be more productive through adequate tools and education.

Concerning these two aspect we first of all implemented our tax policy establishing an exemption for the imports concerning all materials needed by the farmers such as tractors, fertilizers, chemical products, equipment, etc. In order to support farmers to reach these targets, we have established our development policy that lies in several points:

- First of all we have strengthened our Agricultural Extension Service. The Ministry sends technical people to the field in order to advise them on issues like cultivation techniques and the rational use of the tools at their disposal.

- We put at disposition of the farmers a marketing information system so they are aware of the needs of the market.

- The Ministry also has an emergency plan in case of need to intervene and help farmers.

- We have implemented a policy of land allocation for all the farmers. By this policy we aim to encourage agriculture on a small and family scale and make sure there is a land security for those farmers.

- We established a policy of rural credits in order for our farmers to expand their capacity. This means extend the surface of the land and also their several means by the acquisition of adequate materials and technologies.

- We encourage our farmers to organise themselves as cooperatives and associations. They can also be in partnership with private companies. This will allow them to gain in productivity and profitability. They will share for instance costs in material acquisitions, transportation, etc.

- Of course the government has an active part in sustaining this development by an intervention to construct the main channels of irrigation and distribute water, even in the most remote areas of the country, free of charge.

Q4/ The fishing and the forestry industry have also an untapped potential, Cambodia has not only a wide coast but also an internal system of rivers and lakes. What are the plans to modernize and develop further these two industries?

A4/ This is an important resource of our country, nevertheless we have to think ahead for future generations and implement a policy that will insure sustainable development. With this in mind we already introduce new laws concerning these sectors. Nevertheless we have to be aware that there are huge opportunities of development in both sectors. You have to know that in Cambodia we count above 66 different species of fish in our waters we want to make sure that we will preserve that and also the different tree species.

Q5/ Our readers are also interested in knowing more about the man behind the Ministry. Could you tell us about your career path and your greatest satisfaction while in office?

A5/ I have a degree in forestry; first of all I was director at the forestry department, in this same Ministry, for 17 years. Then, I went to our education system and became rector of the Royal University of Agriculture. I became then a Parliament Member to Takeo province, which was an important step. I came back to this Ministry as the Under Secretary of State in Charge of Forestry and finally I was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

My greatest satisfaction is to be working in an environment that allows me to fight for the poverty reduction. As you know our prime Minister have established it as a priority. We have to focus all our efforts towards the rural people. We should not allow our people to die from hunger and what concerns lands; our Prime Minister already stressed that no Cambodian should suffer of lack of land and become slaves in their own homeland.

Q6/ Which will be your final message to the investors that are nowadays interested in investing in Cambodia?

A6/ Invest in Cambodia! I believe that the investment in the agricultural sector already gave a lot of benefits to investors, and that is a good sign. I would like to underline some important facts concerning the general situation of Cambodia, related to the foreign investment; First of all there is peace in Cambodia and that is an important asset. Furthermore for the agricultural sector the land potential still available for foreign investors is important to develop both industrial crops and animal raising. Last but not least I would like to mention our people, above 80% are Buddhists, as you know, they are kind, smiley and volunteer. They are looking forward to the opening of the country and the arrival of investors.