Thailand
Cambodia’s export to South Korea swells under FTA
Cambodia’s export to South Korea has increased significantly thanks to the bilateral free trade agreement, which was put into force last December.
Cambodia exported some 44.3 million worth of goods to South Korea in January this year, 39.7 percent compared to January last year, the Korea International Trade Association’s report said last week.
Import from Korea decreased by 34 percent to $47.4 million.
Cambodia mainly exports footwear and other apparel, travel products, beverages, electrical and electronic components, rubber, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products to South Korea.
The Kingdom imports vehicles, electronics, kitchen appliances, beverages, pharmaceuticals and finished plastics and products.
The implementation of the FTA has pushed the country’s exports to Korea to increase remarkably, said Penn Sovicheat, secretary of state and spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce.
“In the whole year in 2022, the main products Cambodia exported to Korea are clothes and footwear, which increased significantly in value, particularly in the last month of the year, so, the FTA has pushed the export increase,” Sovicheat told Khmer Times.
The Cambodia-Korea FTA came into force in December last year.
With South Korea agreeing to remove tariffs on 95.6 percent of products imported from Cambodia, and Cambodia to axe duties on 93.8 percent of imported goods, trade between the two countries is expected to hit new levels.
The two-way trade reached $1 billion last year and the Republic of Korea is the second largest investor in Cambodia, newly-appointed South Korean Ambassador to Cambodia Park Jung-Wook said during a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh last week.
Noting the bilateral relations between the two countries have been growing steadily despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Park said the free trade agreement and the double taxation avoidance agreement would increase the trade volume between Cambodia and South Korea to more than $1 billion and encourage South Korean investors to invest more in Cambodia.
The FTA has contributed only to gaining market access to Cambodia-made products and agricultural products, but also to attracting inflows of foreign direct investments to the Kingdom, said Lim Heng, vice president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC).
“The free trade agreement would not only open up more markets to Cambodian products but also attract investment for producing and exporting them, providing the best opportunity that will enable the two countries’ governments to promote trade exchanges as planned and through this trade promotion,” Heng added.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501245624/cambodias-export-to-south-korea-swells-under-fta/