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3^rd Edition

Welcome to Lancang-Mekong Business Forum 2022

In the Lancang-Mekong (LM) countries, such as Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, agribusiness is one of the most crucial industry driving and backing up the economic and social development. In the era of globalization, the way of producing and consuming agriculture products and food in the LM countries have been dramatically changed. Within the agriculture and food-related industry, the processed food sector has been a key and rapidly changing sector. Urbanization and globalization has brought the changing consumer taste and preferences, such as preference for processed and nicely packed food, frozen food with protein, organic, and green and healthy food, among others. Food innovation, traceable food supply chain, good nutritional value, and ethical ingredients

(such as the sustainable production procedures and social impacts) have gradually become important concerns of consumers. New technologies and innovations have affected the way of producing, processing, and preserving food in sustainable and cost-effective ways.

As the world leading producers of agriculture products, the LM countries have been paying attention to food sanitation, food safety and security, and processing agriculture products to add value so as to avoid trade deficit in agriculture sector and increase income.

Cambodia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the agriculture sector has been playing a major role in achieving high economic growth. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, not like other economic driving industries such as tourism, manufacturing, and construction sectors, which affected immediately by shrunk demand, Cambodia’s agriculture sector was not hurt much and shared around 22.4% of GDP in 2020. Though its agricultural productions and exports are rising, Cambodia heavily depends on import of processed agriculture goods. Only 10% of total agricultural goods are processed within the country, and the processed agriculture exports represent only 8% of total official exports by value.

In this regard, Cambodia has adopted many policy frameworks and national plans to promote the agricultural modernization and higher value-added exports by prioritizing the agro-processing sector. Furthermore, the government of Cambodia has signed the new Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreements (CCFTA) with China and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) offering opportunities in trade and investment.

To catch up the emerging opportunities, the Mekong Institute (MI) is hosting the 3rd Lancang Mekong Business Forum, with the theme of “Promoting Agribusiness and Investment in Processed Food Sector in Cambodia” on March 30-31, 2022 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The forum will provide a platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities of agribusiness and processed food sector in Cambodia and LM countries, showcase the innovative agro-food products, and facilitate business matching between the Cambodian companies and foreign manufacturers, suppliers, traders, and investors from LM region and beyond. The forum will also arrange field visit to a local food processing company and special economic zone to understand the capacity of Cambodian food processing and explore investment incentives, services, and facilities offered by the Cambodia government.

The Business Forum is part of a long-term project being implemented by MI in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand and supported by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund (LMCSF) of P.R. China. For the event in Phnom Penh, MI is collaborating with the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce as the local host. The LM Business Forum in Phnom Penh is the third event of six forums planned for each LM country from 2018 to 2024 to promote agribusiness and processed food sector in the LM region.

Goals & Objectives

The Business Forum is an important platform for sharing innovations, good practices, challenges, and opportunities in the agro-food processing industry Cambodia and other LM countries. It provides a unique opportunity for the agro-food processing industry value chain actors to seek potential partners and discuss partnership and investment plans. It allows a transition to sustainable processed-food in Cambodia and other LM countries to be established as the ultimate objective. The specific objectives of the forum are:

To exchange business information and market opportunities in agro-food processing sector in the LM countries;
To gain information on new trends in food processing industry sector, innovative products, and sustainable processing;
To establish business connections between Cambodian companies and buyers and investors from other LM countries and beyond; and
To assist traders and investors to understand Cambodia’s agro-food processing market, investment policies, and incentives and identify potential business partners.

Business Forum Structure

Part 1: Business Seminar

Day 1, March 30, 2022 at 08:30-12:30 (Cambodia Time) | Onsite and Zoom

A half-day business seminar will be arranged on the first day to discuss and share the trends of business in processed food sector, emerging technologies and innovative products, sustainable agro-food processing, trade and investment opportunities, and policy support and incentives for investment in Cambodia. The Business Seminar will have two sub-sessions: I. Panel Discussion and II. Experience Sharing.

1. The Panel Discussion will cover the following topics:

Post-COVID19 Recovery – promoting agribusiness and investment in agro-food processing sector in Cambodia
Megatrends and opportunities of agro-food processing sector in LM region and world – products, business, technology and marketing innovation, and trade and investment opportunities;
Policy support, incentives, and Special Economic Zone arrangement for promoting trade and investment in agro-food processing sector in Cambodia;
Readiness of Cambodia to catch up the megatrends and opportunities in agro-food processing sector.

2. Experience Sharing of foreign investors in Cambodia and Cambodian food exporters and innovation:

Sharing of trading and investment experience (best practices, challenges, and opportunities);
Showcase of innovative and environment-friendly agro-food products, operation procedures, and business ideas;
Update on new technologies for providing smart logistics, eye-catching packaging; and digital marketing services; and
Discussion on the challenges, opportunities, and needs of the private sector in participating in global and regional agro-food processing value chain.

Part 2: Business Matching

Onsite and Online

Onsite Business Matching | Day 1, March 30, 2022 at 13:30-17:00 (7 time slots)
Virtual Business Matching | Day 2, March 31, 2022 at 08:30-12:00 & 13:30-17:00 (14 time slots)

The business matching will be attended by selected agro-food processing companies and service providers from Cambodia, and buyers, service providers, traders and investors from other five LM countries and beyond. It aims to provide an opportunity to have direct exposure of the Cambodian processed food sector through a platform for conducting concrete business negotiations.

The participants of the Onsite Business Matching on March 30, 2022 afternoon include:

Companies/business owners/representatives from P.R. China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and other countries (limited seats for non-LM countries), who are based in Cambodia or can travel to Phnom Penh, representing agro-food processing sector, including traders, processors, machinery manufacturers or suppliers, technology suppliers, input suppliers, packagers, and marketing and trade related service providers, among others.
Cambodian companies in agro-food processing sector value chain, such as agro-food producers’ group, processor, processed agro-food exporters, equipment and technology importers, marketing and trade related service providers, and transport/logistics firms, investment service providers, among others.

The forum will open for companies from LM countries and beyond (limited seats for non-LM countries) to register and attend the Virtual Business Matching on March 31, 2022 at 08:30-17:00.

The Business Matching will comprise of the following sub-activities:

Pre-Business Matching (online)

Pre business matching will be conducted through the dynamic web portal developed as part of this project. The prospective companies from LM and other countries will be required to register on this platform and provide their company profile including products/services and indicate their specific business interests. The information will be used to identify specific business interests and facilitate onsite and online business-to-business meeting appointment.
Onsite and Virtual Business Matching
- The onsite one-to-one business matching between Cambodian companies and buyers and investors from LM and other countries will be arranged during the forum on March 30, 2022 afternoon at 13:30-17:00 with seven (7) time slots per company; while the online business matching will be arranged on March 31, 2022 for all day at 08:30-17:00 for seven (7) hours with 14 time slots per company;
- MI staff and its cooperation partners will provide onsite consultations to B2B parties arrange meetings based on the pre matching results obtained from web portal, record progress of the business matching, and obtain feedback.
Post-Forum Evaluation (a three-week period and a three-month period after the event)

The organizing team will send a post-event evaluation to companies who attended the business matching to monitor the cooperation progress and results within three weeks, and another one, within three months after the forum. At the same time, MI will follow up through emails and phone calls, and provide necessary online consultations required, to facilitate investment projects among LM businesses.

Part 3: Exhibition

Day 1, March 30, 2022 full-day

The Lancang-Mekong Business Forum 2022 will feature an exhibition zone for processed agro-food products of Cambodia and the products and services from a limited number of companies from LM and other countries. The Cambodian companies and others will have the opportunity to present their products and services specific to processed food sector. This area will be dedicated to food products, technologies related to food processing, and packaging and labeling, among others.

Part 4: Structured Learning Visit (SLV)

Day 2, March 31, 2022 full-day

A SLV will be organized on the second day of the forum with the aim of providing participants with an opportunity to understand Cambodia’s agro-processing business and facilities, including packaging, processing, standards and certification process, quality control technologies, research and development (R&D), skill development, input suppliers, and investment policies and incentives offered by Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Cambodia. Visiting the leading agro-food processing companies/units, R&D centers, SEZs etc. will be arranged in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Target Participants

Around 120 participants are expected to the On-Site Business Forum on March 30-31, 2022, including:

A. Companies owners/senior representatives of at least 25 Chinese (P.R. China), Lao, Myanmar, Thai, Vietnamese, and other foreign companies based in Phnom Penh, or based in some LM countries and can travel to Phnom Penh, will be invited to the onsite event. This includes companies dealing in processed food trading, processing, machinery manufacturers or suppliers, technology suppliers, R&D centres, input suppliers, packagers, certification bodies, logistics providers, transporters, marketing, and trade related service providers in processed food sector.
B. 100 Participants from Cambodia, comprising of
- 60 Cambodian companies involved in processed food namely trading, processing, machinery manufacturers or suppliers, technology suppliers, R&D centres, input suppliers, packagers, certification bodies, logistics providers, transporters, marketing, and trade related service providers in processed food sector;
- 15 representatives of government agencies and intergovernmental organizations: Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry and Handicraft Ministry of Health, ADB, IFC, FAO, Embassies and foreign missions of China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam in Cambodia, among others.
- 10 representatives/members from International Business Chamber in Cambodia; and
- 15 representatives of agro-food processing support organizations: trade and investment promotion organizations, associations of producers, processors and traders, agriculture technology and innovation research, development and extension institutes or firms, food standard, food inspection institutions, agro-food processing development projects, and local NGOs.

Besides the aforementioned 120 participants, the forum is also open to interested participants worldwide to attend certain sub-activities via On-line channel (powered by Zoom and Business Matching System).

Origins of Company/ Organization	On-site activities	On-line activities
Lancang-Mekong region Cambodia P.R. China Lao PDR Myanmar Vietnam Thailand	Act 1: Business Seminar Act 2: Business Matching Act 3: Exhibition limited booths, invitation only Act 4: SLV limited seats, invitation only	Act 1: Business Seminar (Zoom) unlimited seats Act 2: Business matching LMBF platform built-in system (follow email guideline after register) limited seats
Outside of Lancang-Mekong region	Act 1: Business Seminar limited seats Act 2: Business Matching limited seats, invitation only Act 3: Exhibition limited booths, invitation only Act 4: SLV limited seats, invitation only	Act 1: Business Seminar (Zoom) unlimited seats Act 2: Business matching LMBF platform built-in system (follow email guideline after register) limited seats

**The forum mainly target registrants from LM countries, but also open seats for registrants from other countries.

**The participants from the companies must be senior level staff. He/she must be able to speak English and have basic business negotiation/discussion skills with the potential business partners on behalf of their company.

Expected Outcomes

At the end of the Business Forum, the participants should be able to identify potential business partners for a wide range of business possibilities including market access, technology, R&D, information, joint ventures, and finance in the processed food sector. The participants would also obtain updates on the latest technology and product innovation to improve productivity, competitiveness, and business networking.