PHNOM PENH: Cambodia exported a total of 329,633 tonnes of milled rice in the first semester of this year, earning some US$229 million in revenue, a Cambodia Rice Federation report said on Friday.

Exported milled rice varieties included premium aromatic rice, fragrant rice, long grain white rice, parboiled rice, and organic rice, it pointed out.

Cambodian rice has been shipped to 52 countries and regions around the world during the said period.

China remained the top buyer of Cambodia's milled rice, purchasing 138,364 tonnes or 41 percent of the Kingdom's total milled rice export, followed by European Union countries and ASEAN members with 122,117 tonnes and 28,110 tonnes, respectively, the report said.

In the first half of 2023, two ASEAN nations – the Philippines and Brunei – imported large amounts of Cambodian rice.

During the January-June period, Cambodia also had border-traded paddy rice with neighboring countries at 2.2 million tonnes, generating a total revenue of about $578 million.

In 2022, Cambodia exported over 630,000 tonnes of milled rice to 59 countries, earning $414 million, while the revenue from paddy rice export was around $841 million.

The Cambodia Rice Federation has set an ambitious goal to export at least a million tonnes of milled rice by 2025.