South Korea’s Hyundai Corporation Group broke ground on its $10mn factory in Kampong Speu province yesterday, in the hopes that it would enable Cambodian fruits to be shipped abroad without first being sent to Vietnam or Thailand for processing. The 3-hectare factory is set to open in September and will process 1,700 tonnes of fruit in its first year of operation, according to Hyundai representative Lee Changhoon. He said the company will start with mangoes and hopes to eventually process 50,000 tonnes of fruit annually, including coconut, durian, and mangosteen. Hyudai Corporation inked a deal with local mango producer Mao Legacy Co Ltd in Nov 16, and the two companies combined have about 2,400 hectares of mango farms in Kampong Speu, but there has never been a sanitary and phytosanitary processing plan to enable international exports. (Source: Phnom Penh Post)