Cambodia to Establish Silk Board to Boost Silk Product

By Sok Lak

“Cambodia is working on a draft plan targeting the silk board, a step to boost silk product in the country while it could benefit local farmers to improve their income. It will completely establish the silk board at the beginning next year as the draft now needs a lot of input for its establishment,” H.E. Pan Sorasak, Secretary of State of Ministry of Commerce said at the Cambodian Sector-Wide Silk Project meeting on November 16 at Ministry of Commerce.

He added that Silk board is meant to create a competitive and well-organized silk sector that can generate income and employment to reduce poverty for all stakeholders along the supply chain. “The mission of silk board is to help Cambodia to produce quality silk products for national and international markets, combining innovative design and techniques with traditional weaving, dying, and production of Cambodia golden silk yarn.”

He stressed Silk Board is important for silk sector in Cambodia as its role to follow and control the price chain of silk since the preparing of planting mulberry tree, feeding silkworm till they produce silk products. “The Silk board needs to work on from the beginning to the end of silk product in order to expand silk sector in Cambodia. The development of silk sector is also meant to reduce poverty, especially providing jobs to women.

H.H. Sisowath Pheanuroth, Project Coordinator of Ministry of Commerce, said that it will be proposed to the Senior Minister of Commerce that Ministry of Commerce should assume leadership of the board then it will need to make the necessary step to get the Sub-Decree for the establishment of Silk Board

She revealed that the idea to establish silk board purpose on February 28 this year while the members of the Steering Committee representing the major stakeholders in the silk sector have agreed on the need to create silk board to assist the development of this sector.

In Cambodia, there are two areas are potential to produce silk especially golden silk: Takeo and Benteay Meanchey province. However, the amount of producing silk in two provinces is not enough to supply the demand of the market so that it needs to export from foreign countries while force the price of silk increase.

Nowadays, the silk industry in Cambodia directly contributes an estimated US$25 million to Cambodia’s GDP annually. Moreover, weaving alone reportedly provide a source of income to over 25,000 people, mostly women. Further export volumes of silk products are estimated at around US$74,800 a projected coming about as a direct result of Lifestyle Vietnam Trade fair since it has shown impressive result in term of generating immediate export transitions amounting to US$17,050 for only four participating companies.

Source: The Southeast Asia Weekly, Vol. 5, Issue 47, November 20-26, Page 4