Cambodia’s agricultural sector is a cornerstone of the national economy, contributing significantly to increasing the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employment rates, and improving rural livelihoods. Recently, the sector is facing challenges such as low productivity, limited access to technology, climate change vulnerabilities, and underdeveloped value chains.
Addressing these challenges requires inclusive decision-making and collective actions from all stakeholders. Engaging with the private sector with other partners in the agricultural sector is seen as an important stepping stone in navigating and tackling the emerging issues in the sector. In this regard, ensuring private sector readiness in Cambodia’s agriculture sector is critical to unlocking its full potential and driving inclusive economic growth.
In an effort to assist the private sector in their process of collaborating with other actors in the agricultural sector, Grow Asia Partnership – Cambodia Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (Grow Asia-CPSA), in collaboration with the Cambodia Policy Study and funded by the Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG), conducted a workshop on Private Sector Readiness to gain insights into the current feasibility of the private sector context in Cambodia. Focusing on assessing the readiness of private sector actors, the workshop offers a unique opportunity for different actors in the agricultural sector to come together and share their perspective on the synergy, accessibility to public and private services, and challenges in the public and private partnership with the agriculture cooperatives.
Closing the Gap Between the Public And Private Sector
Addressing the challenges in the partnership between the government, the private sector, and farmers involves a constructive and open dialogue between all stakeholders. Ms. LEAV Kimna, Country Director of Grow Asia-CPSA, said that Grow Asia-CPSA is working very closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery and the Ministry of Commerce in bridging the gaps between the private sector and the public bodies. She continued that Grow Asia-CPSA is working on the study on the private sector’s readiness in collaboration with the Agricultural Cooperatives, with the support from the Center for Policy Study under Mekong Region Land Governance project.
Representative from the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Chheav Pha, Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Domestic Trade, reiterates the importance of the public-private collaboration in improving the agricultural market. Addressing the workshop attendees, Mr. Chheav Pha stated that the Cambodian agricultural sector needs more collaborations between all stakeholders, and that the private sector is considered as the important part that contributes to economic growth.
He encouraged all participants, who are from the private sector, agricultural cooperatives, and financial institutions, to work hand-in-hand in order to improve partnership in the agricultural sector.
Voice From the Private Sector
Ms. ENG Samphors, representative from Aliments Market, shared her experience from the enterprise on the business engagement with public services, agriculture producer, and access to finance. Ms. Samphors, CEO of Aliments Market, said that she has experience in implementing projects that link Aliments Market with the Agricultural Cooperatives, with the support from Grow Asia-CPSA. She also shared Aliments Market’s achievements, challenges, and efforts to work with the communities in order to produce high quality and value-added products.
Private Sector’s Readiness Survey
As a part of the project under the MRLG, Grow Asia-CPSA conducted a survey on the private sector readiness to collaborate with the public sector and agriculture cooperatives. The survey aims to assess the private sector’s readiness, benefits, and challenges when collaborating with other stakeholders to improve the current condition of public-private-partnership in the agricultural sector. The survey also identifies the strengths and gaps of the public-private-partnership with agriculture cooperatives, and determines the current readiness strategies and practice amongst the government, private sector, agriculture cooperatives, and other development partners.
The survey result offers an important insight into the current status of the private sector that promises a better collaboration and understanding between the public and private sector with the agriculture cooperatives, contributing to a better value chain in Cambodia.
Ways Forward
The workshop participant – consists of the government officials, the private sector, financial institutions, and farmer organization – took part in an engaging discussion and generate fruitful results on how the private sector can be better prepared for future collaborations with the public sector, and how the government can further facilitate the partnership between all stakeholders in the Cambodian agricultural sector.
Grow Asia-CPSA is grateful to the guests, presenters, and participants for facilitating this important dialogue and look forward to continuing these critical conversations!
