Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh Supports Indonesia's Chairmanship of the International Pepper Community 2026

KUAI RI and the Executive Director of IPC when meeting with Cambodian authorities. (Source: KBRI Phnom Penh)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh facilitated a meeting of the International Pepper Community (IPC) with relevant institutions in Cambodia to explore cooperation and opportunities for Cambodia's accession to become a member of the IPC, as a form of support for Indonesia's chairmanship of the IPC in 2026.

KUAI RI for the Kingdom of Cambodia, Krishnajie, led a meeting attended by the Executive Director of the IPC, Marina Novira Anggraini with the Deputy Director General of Agronomic of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Cambodia, Yin Chansothy and Deputy Director General of Trade Policy and Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia, Op Rady on Wednesday (20/5).

KUAI RI said that the holding of the meeting was a form of support from the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh for Indonesia's Chairmanship of the IPC in 2026. KUAI RI also welcomed the IPC's positive approach to involving the Cambodian Government.

"Like other spices, pepper has an important meaning for human life. The expansion of the IPC membership will strengthen cooperation among pepper producing countries through the harmonization of standards and collaboration in the form of technical training/assistance in increasing production volume, product downstreaming, and other potential areas of cooperation," he added, launching the statement of the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh (22/5).

KUAI RI encouraged the IPC and Cambodia to intensify communication, share information regarding the process and challenges in the process of accession of candidate member countries in the IPC. Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the IPC said Cambodia already has pepper production whose quality is internationally recognized.

Therefore, Cambodia can play an important role in joint efforts to improve production quality.

"Indonesia as the IPC Chair in 2026 has a strategic agenda to invite all pepper-producing countries to join in efforts to improve production governance and open wider access for pepper products," he said.

Further, on this occasion, the Executive Director of IPC also conveyed an invitation to Cambodia to participate in the 54th IPC Annual Session and International Spices Exhibition in Bali on 30 November-4 December 2026.

IPC is an international organization established in 1972 under UNESCAP. IPC is the only international organization in the pepper commodity sector. Currently, IPC membership consists of five full members and two associate members.

For Cambodia, pepper is one of the mainstay commodities. The average annual production of Cambodian pepper is around 20,000 tons, harvested from Tboung Khmum, Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, Kratie, Kampot and Kep provinces.

The majority of Cambodia's pepper harvest is processed into black pepper and exported to various countries, such as Vietnam, Germany, and France.

During the meeting, the Cambodian side hoped for Indonesian investment in the processing industry of agricultural products in various provinces in Cambodia.