Thailand
Cambodia’s trade deficit widens to $7.66 billion
Cambodia’s trade deficit with its global trading partners has continued to widen in 2019, with $7.66 billion more imports than exports, according to a government report, increasing from $4.83 billion in 2018 and representing a 31.6 percent rise in one year.
The report released in conjunction with the National Bank of Cambodia and General Department of Customs and Excise stated that Cambodia imported $22.19 billion of imports last year, representing an 18.6 percent from the previous year.
The same report valued the Kingdom’s exports at only $14.53 billion in the same year, representing a 12.7 percent increase year-on-year.
Cambodia’s main products for export are textiles, footwear, milled rice and bicycles to the five main countries the United States, Japan, Germany, China and the UK.
The report also stated that exported garment products accounted for 56.67 percent of total exports, while exports of textiles and footwear accounted for 8.91 percent and 8.72 percent respectively. Milled rice exports represented 2.89 percent and 2.88 percent bicycle exports.
Imported products represented primarily raw material for the country’s garment sector, vehicles, cooking oil and building materials mainly from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.
China was identified as Cambodia’s biggest importing country with 43 percent of total imports last year.
Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said that it is common sense for a country like Cambodia to import more than it exports because it imports materials to export.
“It is a good point that Cambodia has high imports because it reflects the economic growth of the nation, which has a high demand for products that are required for domestic supply,” Lim said.
He added, “More imports mean more jobs that are generated, with more factories opened for investment. These imports of raw materials also feed into the production chains of products for export.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50698301/cambodias-trade-deficit-widens-to-7-66-billion