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Cambodia commodity trade deficit down to $3.64 billion
The deficit in trade of commodities between Cambodia and the rest of the world has narrowed by 23.55 percent to about $3.64 billion in the first five months of this year from $4.8 billion in the same period of 2021, according to figures released by the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE).
The trade deficit reduced as the value of export from Cambodia rose by 25.37 percent to $9.41 billion in the January-May period from $7 billion in the same period of the previous year,
The pace of exports was faster compared to imports, which rose by only 9.87 percent to $13.05 billion from $11.76 billion, according to figures.
The trade volume between Cambodia and Singapore — the trade partner in commodities standing at number 5 among the 20 countries in the list of GDCE — has fallen by almost 73.21 percent to $1.7 billion from $2.88 billion mainly due to the drop in imports by Cambodia by 76.04 percent in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year.
Andrew Tay, president of Singapore Club Cambodia and Director of Himawari Hotel Apartments in Phnom Penh, told Khmer Times that the trade between the two countries is most likely to bounce back this year as the Singapore government has relieved health restrictions and encouraged its people to seek business and investment opportunities in the region.
“My hope is that more trade will be back, as in few months we have seen more Singaporeans coming to Cambodia either for business or leisure and they have booked and stayed more at my hotels, but mostly they are coming to seek new [export] markets as the economic activities here are back,” Tay said.
Nguon Mengtech, director-general of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), told this newspaper that commodities inflow into Cambodia through Singapore as a transit spot has been restricted by its government’s health restrictions, while exporters most likely change course from this country to Vietnam in order to carry commodities to Cambodia.
“It is due to Singapore that has applied very strict restrictions in a bid to get out of the pandemic very quickly. Even goods could carry the disease along with containers and so on … to let them pass by this country as people also still work on that stuff that could be risky,” Mengtech said.
“Another possible scenario is that the inflow of goods through Vietnam could be faster as free trade agreements between the US and others have been effective and transiting goods could be changed to Vietnam and so Singapore could see a lot of loss,” he said.
The trade volume between Cambodia and its eastern neighbour Vietnam surged to $2.79 billion or 16.85 percent between January and May
this year compared to $2.32 billion last year.
When compared, Cambodia’s exports to Vietnam slightly increased by 3.32 percent to $1.08 billion from $1.043 billion. The Kingdom’s imports from Vietnam rose faster by 25.38 percent to $1.71 billion.
The figures show that total trade volume has surged by 16.5 percent to $22.5 billion in the first five months of this year from $18.76 billion in the same period last year.
China, US, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore were the main commodity trade partners among the top 20 countries that exchanged commodities with Cambodia during this period.
The commodity trade volume between the Kingdom and China increased by 20.7 percent to nearly $5 billion in the January-May period of this year compared to $3.95 billion in the same period of last year, while exports from Cambodia to China dropped 7.41 percent, but imports rose by 23.96 percent to $4.47 billion, according to the figures.
Cambodia exported commodities valued at $3.73 billion to the US, which is a rise of 36.6 percent from $2.36 billion and imported goods worth $0.13 billion – a fall of about 10 percent from $0.12 percent.
According to statistics, trade volume between the two countries increased by 35.65 percent in the first five months of this year to about $3.86 billion compared to the same period last year.
The statistics also show that Cambodia’s trade volume with Thailand – its neighbour on the west – increased by 15.26 percent to $1.87 billion. Exports grew by 24.61 percent to $0.43 billion and imports by 12.4 percent to $1.43 billion in the first five months of this year.
Cambodia has exported mainly apparel, textile, leather, machinery, electrical, furniture, non-rail vehicles, fruits, grains, plastics, rubber, wood, gems and processed items and imported gems, automobiles, steel, pharmaceutical, fertilizer, raw leather, processed food, coal and so on.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501102129/cambodia-commodity-trade-deficit-down-to-3-64-billion/