Akra co-op signs first rice mill agreement

American business group Akra, led by Cambodian-born former US ambassador to the United Nations, Sichan Siv, has signed an agreement with a rice mill under a new co-operative structure it says puts ownership and profits back in to the hands of Cambodian producers. Akra’s managing director Thomas Willems said that with buyers waiting in the US and Europe, the signing of the mill puts the co-operative in motion. “We have our first agreement signed with our first miller. We are effectively working on the shipping companies right now; we have goods coming this way, so we have started that process,” Willems said. “Now that we have the agreement signed this is all starting to move forward.” The ambitious project aims to create immediate efficiencies, with the introduction of new technology, and realise greater margins by enhancing production capabilities to target retail rather than world commodity prices. … “Our goal is to work with the millers to bring in bagging equipment so that we can actually bring it to the retail stores in America and Europe, where they are selling rice per pound, not per tonne. Kim Savuth, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters, said he welcomes such innovative business ideas; his concern, however, is a lack of interest from the farmers themselves….

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020861251/Business/akra-co-op-signs-first-rice-mill-agreement.html