• Economics

Agricultural Wholesale Center Phase One Opens

• By Ou Sokmean
• January 19, 2024 2:10 PM

PHNOM PENH – The ASEAN-International wholesale market or the New Deum Kor Market, built on a 30-hectare site in Prek Pnov district, will open in mid-2024.  

The market, on Win-Win Boulevard is set to become a major outlet for agricultural products between Cambodia and China to supply domestic demand.

The first phase with 6,000 booths has been completed, its chairman Xie Luping says.

The government decided to build a market to supply fruit and vegetables, along with a carpark, in ​​Boeung Ta Mok in 2018 to ease congestion at the old market in Toul Kork.

Xie said the new market will greatly promote agricultural trade among China, Cambodia and ASEAN countries with a wide range of quality and hygienic agricultural products.

“We will work together with relevant partners to bring high quality and affordable agricultural products to the people of both countries and encourage more of Cambodia's agricultural products to be exported to the world market through the ASEAN trade center,” he said.

The Deum Kor market, the largest wholesale market in Cambodia, can handle up to 60,000 tonnes of local produce and imports from countries such as China, Vietnam and Thailand.

Nuon Pharat, Deputy Governor of Phnom Penh, said investing in the wholesale market will contribute to economic development by attracting foreign investors and supporting traders who sell their products in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia exported nearly 8.5 million tonnes of agricultural products, worth about $4 billion in US dollars, in 2023.

These include rice, fresh bananas, mangoes, cashew nuts, corn, cassava, rubber, lentils, coconut oil, pepper and fresh vegetables.

Trade between Cambodia and China reached more than $12 billion in 2023, up 5% on 2022. Of this, Cambodia's exports reached nearly $1.5 billion, an increase of 19.2%, while imports from China rose by 3%.