Meat imports rack up $100M tab
Cambodians spent over $100 million on imported meat last year, further widening the gap of domestic supply as local producers failed to capture the lucrative protein market, a government official said on February 23. Lor Reaksmey, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, said Cambodia’s heavy dependence on foreign imports to supply the 280,000 tonnes of meat consumed in the Kingdom last year was a missed potential for domestic production. “Cambodians spend a lot of money to supply meat to consumers and to bring in feed to meet market demands,” he said. “If we could meet the demand with our own domestic supply, it would add a huge amount of revenue to our local businesses.”
