Chinese Firm Opens $360 Million Sugar Mill in Cambodia

Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen opened the country's biggest sugar mill, a $360 million Chinese-owned plant, in Preah Vihear that will produce half a-million tons a year, and called for more investment from the world's second-largest economy.

The plant, set in a 43,422-hectare sugar plantation, will also generate about 30 megawatts of electricity from its waste to supply the province. It is part of a three-stage plan to expand the plantation, build an ethanol factory and a fertilizer plant.

Industry Minister Cham Prasidh said the project will see new factories built next year and eventually produce about 50,000 tons of ethanol for export to China and 100,000 tons of organic fertilizer for the plantation, which will be expanded to 60,000 hectares. The combined operations will eventually employ about 21,000 people and produce almost 1.5 million tons of sugar annually.