A delegation from FoodSTEM visits Confirel

At the beginning of January, a dozen of Cambodian, French and Belgian teacher-researchers involved in higher education institutions in the food processing sector visited, at their request, the Confirel factory where they were welcomed by Dr. Hay Ly Eang, founder of the company.

The history of the company, its vision for a sustainable rural development, its products and its production tool favorably impressed the representatives of this European program whose aim is to create a new generation of entrepreneurs in the food chain, with an emphasis on safety, quality and sustainability.

FoodSTEM, co-financed by the European Union within the framework of the Erasmus program and the “Capacity Building in Higher Education” program, was designed to establish a partnership between Cambodian and European universities. It involves, on the Cambodian side, the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, the Royal University of Agriculture, the Royal University of Law and Economics, the National University of Battambang and, on the European side, the Agro Institute – Montpellier SupAgro (France), the University of Liege (Belgium), Toulouse INP (France).

To its end, on May 2023, the project should have implemented e-learning devices related to entrepreneurship in the agribusiness sector in Cambodian universities and strengthen the training of trainers and improve accessibility.

In addition, a new “Agribusiness Entrepreneurship” track at the Master’s level will has also been launched.

It has been planned to start an innovation challenge, develop specific training and improve management skills and technical facilities for pre-incubation of student entrepreneurs.

FoodSTEM aims to improve good practices in quality control and food safety in partner universities to support student projects.

Finally, this program also aims to strengthen the cooperation of Cambodian universities with European universities and the private sector to develop training programs that meet market needs.