PHNOM PENH (Bernama): Two Cambodian companies commenced their first export of cashew nuts and dried mangoes to Malaysia on Thursday under a private sector partnership agreement.

Ample Agro Product Co Ltd and Kirirom Food Production Co Ltd signed separate memoranda of understanding with TrackinTech Solutions Sdn Bhd on January 23 this year to facilitate the exports.

Under the agreement, TrackinTech Solutions will procure processed cashews from Ample Agro Product and dried mangoes from Kirirom Food.

"The shipment is divided into four stages -  200 boxes (10,000 packages) of cashew nuts and 210 boxes (10,500 packages) of dried mango to Malaysia, with further distribution to Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei,” said the Ministry of Commerce.

Ample Agro Product is a social and environmental enterprise that produces cashew nuts, cashew kernels, dried fruits and pepper. 

Kirirom Food specialises in dried mangoes and other fruit production for domestic sales and exports.

Cambodia is emerging as a major exporter of cashew nuts in the global market, competing with neighbouring Vietnam, which is the world’s top producer. 

According to the Cashew Nuts Association data, Cambodian growers exported 850,000 metric tonnes of raw cashew nuts worth nearly RM5 billion (US$1.15 billion) last year.

There are about 700,000 hectares of cashew farms in the Kingdom. - Bernama