English
Cambodia’s export to RCEP member countries up 6%
Cambodia exported a total of $4,703 million worth of goods to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries in the first nine months of this year, an increase of six percent when compared with the same period last year.
The export amount to RCEP countries accounted for 27.2 percent of the Kingdom’s total export of $17,258 million during the period, the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics showed yesterday.
During the January-September period, Cambodia’s top four export destinations were Vietnam, China and Japan with shipped products worth $1,559 million, $895 million, and $898 million, respectively.
The country’s export to ASEAN countries accounted for 51.7 percent of $4,703 million or 14.1 percent of Kingdom’s total export to the world, the report pointed out.
The Kingdom imported $19,363 million worth of merchandise from RCEP countries, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent.
This made the Kingdom’s foreign trade with RCEP member countries rising by 11 percent year-on-year to $24,066 million.
The RCEP pact has contributed to the country’s export growth in the nine months of this year, Penn Sovicheat, under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said.
“Since entering into force earlier this year, Cambodia’s export to the RCEP member states has significantly increased,” Sovicheat told Khmer Times yesterday.
Cambodia is one of the supply chains in the world, exporting garments, footwear, electronic and electricity components, and agriculture, which is the main factor that boosted the exports to the RCEP countries, Sovicheat said.
The RCEP free trade agreement entered into force on January 1, 2022.
The regional trade pact comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Being the world’s largest trade bloc, the RCEP trade deal has a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $26.2 trillion, representing around 30 percent of global GDP, 28 percent of global trade, and 32.5 percent of global investment.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has noted that RCEP is an important mechanism to safeguard the rules-based multilateral free trade system against the trends of anti-globalization and protectionism.
“In this context, the RCEP is an important mechanism and a strategy that demonstrates our unwavering commitment to safeguard the rules-based multilateral free trade system, maintain economic openness, and uphold a spirit of cooperation,” he said.
He also reiterated Cambodia’s commitment to host the RCEP Secretariat in Phnom Penh, aiming for functional cooperation and mutual support to fully implement the RCEP agreement to maximise the benefits.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501179416/cambodias-export-to-rcep-member-countries-up-6/