Kuwait eyeing partnerships in Kingdom on milled rice, energy
Kuwait eyeing partnerships in Kingdom on milled rice, energy
Kuwait is looking to buy Cambodian milled rice and strengthen energy cooperation with the Kingdom, as part of a broader push to increase bilateral trade and investment, according to the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC).
The plan was revealed during Kuwaiti ambassador Mohammad Saeed al-Hajri’s February 15 courtesy call on CCC president Kith Meng, the chamber affirmed in a statement.
Al-Hajri said Kuwait wants to work with the CCC – the top Cambodian trade body – to promote relations and commerce between the business community of both countries, especially as concerns energy, milled-rice exports and other key areas, the statement said.
Meng welcomed the idea, commenting that Cambodia is a major rice producer and could potentially supply the Kuwaiti market, and that the Kingdom needs the West Asian country’s expertise in the energy sector, especially in the oil and gas segments, the statement added.
He asked the ambassador to encourage Kuwaiti businesspeople to invest in Cambodia in the aforementioned areas, briefing al-Hajri on the Kingdom’s economic growth, other potentially rewarding sectors, and the overall state of peace and stability.
The CCC chief also proposed looking at promoting tourism between the two countries, the statement noted.
For the record, the Ministry of Tourism tallied just 123 Kuwaiti visitors to the Kingdom last year, up from 12 in 2021 but down from 1,121 in 2013 – respectively the lowest and highest annual figures given for the 2006-2022 period. The next highest numbers were 916 in 2015, and 876 in 2014.
Lun Yeng, secretary-general of the Cambodia Rice Federation, the Kingdom’s apex rice industry lobby, welcomes plans to export locally-grown milled rice to Arab countries.
He remarked that shipments of the grain to the region have historically been quite limited, although the United Arab Emirates is a fairly large buyer of Cambodian produce, including milled rice.
“Securing greater market access to Kuwait would be fantastic and make exciting prospects for Cambodian milled-rice players,” he said, affirming that there are indeed formal exports of milled rice to other Middle Eastern countries.
The Ministry of Commerce reported the January-October 2022 Cambodian-Kuwaiti trade volume at a comparably strong $0.64 million, listing major goods traded as garments, travel goods and other textile-related items; tobacco; machinery and electronic components; polymers of ethylene; and glass and glassware.
According to Trading Economics, the two-way trade stood at $0.3739 million in full-year 2021 – increasing by 18 per cent from $0.3167 million a year earlier – and has remained heavily tilted in Cambodia’s favour over the last several years.
The Kingdom’s exports to and imports from Kuwait in 2021 clocked in at $0.30393 million and $0.06993 million, respectively, expanding by 13.2 per cent and 45.3 per cent versus a year earlier, the statistics website indicated.
In 2021, “tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes” accounted for the largest share of Cambodia’s exports, at 54.9 per cent or $0.16675 million (up 76.9 per cent over 2020), while “plastics and articles thereof” – which includes polymers of ethylene – made up the overwhelming majority of the Kingdom’s imports, at 96 per cent or $0.06682 million (up 103 per cent).
