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Cambodia’s export to Japan reached almost $2B last year

Cambodia exported $1,939 million worth of products to Japan last year, a year-on-year increase of 10.5 percent, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) report said on Monday.

Cambodia’s import from the East Asia nation was valued at $515 million, a decrease of 11.2 percent compared to the same period last year, the report read.

This made the Kingdom have a trade surplus with Japan of $1,424 million.

The main exports to Japan are garments, bags, footwear, furniture, cosmetics, paper and office supplies and leather goods.

Cambodia imported machinery, automobiles, electronics, furniture, fabrics and plastics from Japan.

Cambodia looks upon Japan as a prioritised trade partner for talks on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) to be established, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Japan is among the potential trade partners that Cambodia has planned to make negotiations on the establishment of the bilateral FTA. Other countries are Arab Emirates, India, Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Canada and American Latin countries.

The ministry has announced its plan to form a working group tasked to facilitate the negotiations of the bilateral FTA between Japan and Cambodia.

The talks are set to be conducted soon as the Kingdom has already inked two bilateral FTAs with China and South Korea.

In December, Prime Minister Hun Sen lauded the rising bilateral trade volume between the two countries through Japanese investment in Cambodia and export to Japan.

The ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’ between both countries is expected to attract more Japanese investment and open a wider market for Cambodian products.

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501233908/cambodias-export-to-japan-reached-almost-2b-last-year/