Cambodia, Canada to further boost economic ties
Cambodia, Canada to further boost economic ties
Cambodia and Canada will strengthen their economic ties further to boost trade and investment between the two countries.
The talks on strengthening the economic ties took place when Prime Minister Hun Manet met Kelvin K Mo, Head of the Office of the Representative of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal, Canada, and his delegation at the Peace Palace yesterday.
During the meeting, Mo expressed his deep gratitude to the Prime Minister for allowing him and the delegation to pay the courtesy call and discuss the work. He also thanked relevant ministries and institutions to organize their visit to Cambodia.
Mo also praised the rapid development of Cambodia, especially sustainable economic growth under the leadership of the Prime Minister. He congratulated Cambodia for hosting the 2026 Francophone Summit, through which Cambodia will be able to attract more investors and tourists from around the world.
According to Mo, the purpose of the current visit was to learn more about the opportunities of investing in Cambodia and the Royal Government’s strategic policy to attract investments.
In response, the Prime Minister welcomed the delegation and congratulated Mo on his election as Head of the Office of the Representative of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal.
The Prime Minister noted that representative offices of the Cambodian Overseas Chamber of Commerce were established already in some countries, such as the United States, Australia, Japan and would soon be opened in France and the European Union as well for establishing business-to-business links and promoting trade and investment.
The representative office of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal has acted as a bridge between the people of the two countries, as well as investors, the Prime Minister further noted.
Mr Hun Manet urged the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal to work closely with the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) to expand investment and trade opportunities between the two countries.
CCC, he said, could act as a facilitator for trade negotiations between Cambodia and Canada as well as promote the export of Cambodian products to Canada.
The Prime Minister also encouraged the Office of the Representative of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal to cooperate with Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce in promoting business and trade opportunities between Cambodia and Canada.
It may be noted that Cambodia and Canada have had a strong and long-standing relationship since 1952 and re-established diplomatic relations in 1993.
Canada is an important partner of Cambodia in both the pursuit of peace and economic development, with Canada being Cambodia’s eighth largest trading partner, noted a press release.
In 2022, the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Canada reached $2.06 billion in Cambodia. Canada provides tariff-free quotas to Cambodia on items such as clothing, footwear and textiles, the Kingdom’s main export items.
Meanwhile, in the first four months this year, trade between Cambodia and Canada reached $311 million, an increase of 23.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
While Cambodia’s exports to Canada reached $293 million, the imports jumped to $18 million, a growth of 209 percent compared to the same period last year. Cambodia also holds a trade balance of $275 million in the trade with Canada.
In February this year, the Canadian and Cambodian Foreign Ministries also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to take the bilateral cooperation to the next level by pushing trade, investment and tourism flows.
Canada also has elevated its partnership with ASEAN to a strategic partnership level and committed to further strengthening the ASEAN-Canada dialogue as well as cooperation to speed up the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
