PHNOM PENH, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Fisheries Administration (FiA) on Wednesday launched an Investment Support Facility (ISF) scheme, aiming to catalyze growth in the country's post-harvest fisheries.
The ISF scheme is a blended financing initiative in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) and co-funded by the European Union (EU), said a news release after the launching event.
With its rich fisheries resources, Cambodia holds great promise for excelling in the global fish and fishery products market. However, post-harvest fisheries face challenges such as inadequate fish-processing technologies, limited value addition, and food safety concerns impacting consumer trust and the sector's competitiveness on a global scale, the news release said.
The ISF scheme was designed to support post-harvest fisheries enterprises and their input suppliers in overcoming these challenges, enhancing productivity and product safety and quality.
"This scheme blends co-financing from the enterprises' own resources, guaranteed business loans distributed by the local financial institutions, and grant support from the project," the news release said.
"This new scheme targets over 100 eligible enterprises in the fisheries value chain in addition to the 50 enterprises already being supported by the project's Value Chain Investment Support," it added.
Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina reaffirmed the commitment to further advancing Cambodia's fisheries sector to higher levels.
"The ISF is a good initiative to support the collaboration between the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, UNIDO, and the private sector to promote growth in the post-harvest fisheries sector in Cambodia," he said.
Tina is optimistic that the scheme will promote the processing of post-harvest fishery products to higher standard and quality, as well as provide economic benefits to fishermen and processing enterprises. ■
