The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have officially unveiled the Certification Mark “Malys Angkor” as the top brand for Cambodian premium rice.

Malys Angkor will be the brand name for premium rice such as somaly, jasmine, phka romduol, phka chansensor, phka Romdeng, phka romeat and phka khnei, according to the CRF.

Yon Sovann, the director of Bayon Cereal, one of the leading rice exporting companies in Cambodia, said that having its own branding for Cambodian premium rice is very important because it is easy to build trust and build networks and negotiations on purchasing agreements with customers as we have the mark to certify our premium rice.

“When we have a name, we have to stick with it and follow that name and it is Cambodian rice. Then our rice products are easily identified when it enters into the international market,” she added.

In 2017, Cambodia produced about 10 million tonnes of paddy and had a four million tonne surplus, while exports were 635,679 tonnes of milled rice to international markets, an increase of 17.3 percent year-on-year. Cambodia exported rice to more than 60 international markets.