<p></p><p>Chaired by Chan Rasy, under-secretary of state of the Ministry of Commerce, the newly-formed group will conduct studies and collect information related to the cashew nut production chain. The collected information will be input for drafting the strategic policy for the crop in Cambodia, according to a statement signed by Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, on Tuesday. After compiling the information, the draft policy will be submitted to government for checks and approval, before being implemented as the national policy on cashew nut development in Cambodia. The group will also be organising workshops, seminars and preparing business-match events in the cashew nut and farming industry.</p> <p>The draft policy has been commissioned because the Kingdom’s cashew nut production has notably increased over the past few years. However, because of a lack of domestic processing, raw nuts are still mainly for export. Cambodia exported 202,318 tonnes of cashew nuts last year to foreign markets, up nearly 100 per cent from 101,973 tonnes in 2018, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. According to the Ministry, cashew nuts were exported to a total of seven countries – Vietnam, Russia, South Korea, China, Myanmar, Peru and Saudi Arabia.</p> <p>Khan Samban, director of the agro-industry department for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, said that officials from the department will join with the Ministry of Commerce to draft the new national policy. “We are working to boost the production of cashews in the country, so working with the Ministry of Commerce, officials at the Agriculture Ministry will contribute with technical knowledge,” Khan said. The current price of raw cashew nuts is $1.25 to $1.5 per kilogramme, depending on the quality of the nut, with cashew nut production still expected to exeperience good growth in 2020, Khan added. According, to the Ministry of Agriculture, more than 500,000 hectares of cashew nut trees are planned for planting, up from the current 150,000 hectares.</p><br><p></p>