PHNOM PENH, March 2 – Cambodia is looking to position coffee and cocoa as “strategic crops” to drive growth in its northeastern provinces, an effort officials say could reduce reliance on imports as domestic demand rises.
Thun Vathana, second vice president of the Senate, made the comments during a visit on Sunday to PIDA Coffee Farm in Mondulkiri province, according to a statement from Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP), a government news agency.
“Coffee and cocoa should be integrated as additional strategic crops,” Vathana said, describing the two commodities as a new frontier for Cambodia’s agro-industrial sector, AKP reported.
Vathana said local production in Mondulkiri currently meets “only an estimated 10%” of domestic market demand a gap he called a “golden opportunity” for farmers and private investors to expand cultivation and curb dependence on foreign imports, according to AKP.
The push is presented as part of a broader government effort to develop the northeast long associated with rubber, cashew and cassava into a “fourth economic pole,” AKP said.
Independent, comprehensive national data on Cambodia’s coffee production and consumption is limited in public reporting. However, Cambodian media outlets and sector voices have previously described an import-heavy market: Khmer Times reported in 2025 that locally sourced beans accounted for about 5% of supply, with most coffee imported, while Cambodianess quoted agriculture figure Yang Saing Komar as estimating that more than 90% of coffee sold domestically is imported and local production makes up roughly 5–10%.
AKP said Vathana called for stronger technical training and research to support expansion, including collaboration between the Prek Leap National Institute of Agriculture and private farms such as PIDA to develop specialised training programmes, as well as work on “high-quality, climate-resilient” local seedlings.
He also urged steps to strengthen agro-processing expertise to meet “international standards,” AKP reported, without detailing specific targets, budgets or timelines for the initiative.
