Dr. Hay on CNC in “CEO Speech”

Interviewed in April by CNC television for its weekly program “CEO Speech”, Dr. Hay Ly Eang, founder of Confirel in 2001, explained that the company’s success was the fruit of a reflection he had begun the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and which he has formulated clearly in 1990. “The founding idea is that without rural development, chaos could return and that this essential rural development required combining traditional know-how and innovation to put on the international market products from the Khmer countryside with high added value to increase the income of farmers. »

“Our guiding principle is simple: we take a typical product from our campaigns and we make the most of it. To start, we chose the sugar palm tree, thnot in khmer, a typical tree of the Khmer countryside. It is a national symbol but it was also at the time the symbol of poverty in rural areas. Backed by our concept of combining traditional know-how and innovation, we have succeeded in promoting “thnot” sugar to the point that it obtained in 2005 – only 4 years after the creation of Confirel – the gold medal at the Natexpo fair in Paris, then, among other distinctions, the first prize at Asean Food Fair in 2017. This success has a very strong impact because it gives us confidence in ourselves, we Cambodians. How do you expect us to succeed if we don’t trust ourselves when we know very well that no one will come to help us! »

Today, the company offers on the national and international market a hundred raw products or derivatives of palm sugar, Kampot pepper, mangoes and other agricultural products typical of the country. “We will continue our mission of creating added value for the benefit of Khmer peasants while encouraging them to apply the principles of the circular economy which allows nothing to be wasted and, ultimately, to gain autonomy while protecting the environment and therefore the working tool. And I hope that future generations will continue the work we started 30 years ago with this same vision of preserving and enhancing our ancestral heritage with the aim of developing our economy and improving life in rural areas. »