The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) recently conducted training courses in Cambodia and Vietnam on the use of innovative end-to-end cold chain processes in agrifood. The initiative was part of the follow-up actions by the APO to train the users in modern storage technologies and provide an opportunity to observe the use of cold chain equipment it had made available under a Special Cash Grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA).

Disruptions of food supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted both Cambodia and Vietnam, putting pressure on SMEs dealing in fresh food products requiring timely harvest, storage, and delivery to consumers. To enable them to manage food chain disruptions better, the MOFA grant was used to provide the two countries with two cold storage containers and an ice machine each to improve their farm-to-retail, end-to-end cold chain systems.

The APO conducted a training course on Cold Chain Systems in Agrifood SMEs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in cooperation with the National Productivity Centre of Cambodia (NPCC), 31 October–5 November. Twenty-one participants from the Department of Agro-industry, NPCC, and the demonstration company Green Mart attended the course, which included onsite evaluation and consultation at Green Mart and training in cold chain operations and innovative technologies to maintain fresh food quality.

In Phu Yen province, Vietnam, face-to-face Technical Expert Services were carried out from 26–29 October, which included training sessions and onsite consultations at the demonstration companies by two international resource persons from Japan and Singapore, as well as a dissemination conference organized in cooperation with the provincial government. Fifty participants attended the conference, representing the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Provincial People’s Committee, Provincial Union of Friendship Organizations, City People’s Committees from various districts, Union of Cooperatives of Phu Yen province, Japan–Vietnam Exchange Center, Department of Foreign Affairs (DOFA), provincial news media, and 12 companies and cooperatives from the seafood and fisheries sector.