On September 6th, 2022, the Training Course on Bamboo Handicrafts Processing Technology for Cambodia sponsored by MOFCOM, organized by ICBR and co-organized by INBAR opened in Beijing. The following guests of honor attended and spoke at the ceremony: Prof. Fei Benhua, Director General of ICBR; Dr. Lu Wenming, Deputy Director General of INBAR; Mr. Chan Ponika, Deputy Director General of the Forestry Administration of Cambodia and Mr. Sreng Sataro, Minister Counselor of the Cambodian Embassy in China.
Conducted virtually for 20 days, this training course is attended by a total of 26 Cambodian officials, technicians, and craftsmen. The training invites experts and teachers from ICBR and its training base in Qingshen, Sichuan, to teach on the harvesting and preliminary processing of bamboo raw materials, design, and processing of bamboo handicrafts as well as China's bamboo resources and industrial development through a combination of lectures, practical training, exchanges, and virtual visits.
As a research and training institution in the field of bamboo and rattan based in China and open to the world, ICBR has focused on serving INBAR and its member states over the years. Cambodia is a member of INBAR, an important country in the "Belt and Road" initiative in Southeast Asia, and one of the founding countries of ASEAN. ICBR has always attached great importance to the cooperation in bamboo and rattan training with Cambodia. Nearly 100 senior officials, including the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Cambodia, participated in the 12 bamboo and rattan foreign aid training courses undertaken by ICBR, which deepened the cooperation between China and Cambodia in the field of bamboo and made positive contributions to promoting the green, inclusive, and sustainable development of the bamboo industry in Cambodia.