By Martin Ablola

Last March 21-22, 2025, the NTFP-EP Cambodia and NTFP-EP Asia organized the first-ever Marketing Summit of Non-Timber Forest Products in Siem Reap City, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia.

The event brought together government officials of the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia, from the national up to the local level, NGOs, community forest enterprises from seven (7) community forestry, all partners of the AFoCO-CLMV Project in a two-day event that both highlights the potentials of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs&LCs) and their non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and create an avenue for sustainable marketing partnerships with private commercial buyers, private finance institutions and concerned government agencies that would contribute to the long-term conservation of forests and sustainable use of NTFPs.

Photo courtesy of Set Sambath, NTFP-EP Cambodia

The Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme Asia is co-implementing a project with the Asian Forestry Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) on the project entitled “Capacity Building on Enhancing Resilience to Forest Fire, and Strengthening Local Livelihood, and Market Linkages in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) Countries”.

This Marketing Summit was made possible through the support of the ASEAN Forest Cooperation (AFoCO) and the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF).