PHNOM PENH, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia had exported some 379, 000 tonnes of milled rice last year, up 84 percent from 205,700 tonnes recorded in 2012, government data showed Saturday.
Some 84 companies have exported rice to 66 countries and regions around the world, the data said, adding that France, Poland, Malaysia, the Netherlands and China are major Cambodian rice buyers.
Kim Savuth, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters, attributed the remarkable increase to the country's efforts in promoting rice industry in combination with rising rice demand on international market.
"With this high growth, we hope that the country will be able to achieve the self-imposed goal of exporting 1 million tonnes of milled rice a year from 2015," he said.
Lim Bunheng, chairman of leading rice exporter Loran Import- Export, said a tonne of fragrant rice costs 900 U.S. dollars this week.
With more than 80 percent of the population being farmers, the Southeast Asian nation produces about 9 million tonnes of paddy rice a year. Of this amount, besides local consumption, it has about 3 million tonnes of milled rice left over for exports each year.