With the Kingdom’s edible bird’s nest business showing a steady increase, official exports to China are expected to begin soon, the Cambodia Bird’s Nest Federation president Nang Sothy said.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon said last month that the ministry would make a formal request to export Cambodia’s edible bird’s nest to the Chinese market.

Sothy told The Post on Tuesday: “As far as I know, the Cambodian and Chinese governments have already agreed in principle, even though they don’t have the procedure and protocol prepared,” he said.

On May 10, at the opening ceremony of a yellow banana packaging plant which exports to the Chinese market, Sakhon said he would propose to the Chinese side this month to prepare the protocol for edible bird’s nest exports to China.

Cambodia’s bird nest is internationally recognised for its good quality because the Kingdom has a lot of local operations in natural areas, away from industrial plant smoke which results in poor edible bird’s nest quality, according to Sothy.

The current trend of raising swallows has grown rapidly in the coastal provinces, especially in Koh Kong, he said.

“The increase is mainly due to farmers’ expectations of [access to the] Chinese market, in line with new technologies which have made raising [swallows] easier,” he said.http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdom-set-export-edible-birds-nest-china