Cambodia, Turkey set to grow bilateral trade to $1B annually
Cambodia, Turkey set to grow bilateral trade to $1B annually
Cambodia and Turkey have renewed their pledge to boost bilateral trade and investments to $1 billion annually, the Ministry of Commerce said.The pledge was made during a two-day meeting last week in Ankara, Turkey, between a joint economic committee comprising experts from both countries.
Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak met with Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli and vowed to continue promoting bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, investment and other potential areas.
Data from the Ministry of Commerce show bilateral trade between the two countries between 2014 and last year was about $510 million. Of that amount, Cambodian exports were valued at $437.84 million compared to imports of about $72 million.
Sorasak said: “Most Cambodian products exported to Turkey are garments, bicycles, mangoes, rubber, cassava, corn, pepper and milled rice.”
The minister also met with Turkey’s Minister of Customs and Trade Ruhsar Pekcan.
Cambodia has asked Turkish Airlines to launch a direct flight between the two countries, said Sorasak. The Kingdom also called on Turkey to provide technical assistance to the food industry – especially the halal food sector – making Cambodia more attractive for Islamic visitors.
During a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in June at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia in Tajikistan, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Turkey’s many halal food consumers provide much potential for Cambodia.
The Kingdom, he said, will invest in food production and that direct flights between the two countries would contribute significantly to achieving the goal of increasing bilateral trade volumes.
Ministry of Tourism data shows that in the first 11 months of last year, Cambodia received 6,921 Turkish tourists – down 5.77 per cent compared to the same period in 2017 which recorded 7,345 tourists.
