Cambodia’s trade goes up 12% in five months
Cambodia’s trade goes up 12% in five months
Cambodia’s international trade has seen a significant increase in the first five months of 2024, growing by 12 percent compared to the same period last year.
Data from the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday showed that Cambodia’s total trade volume reached over $21.6 billion, up from $19.2 billion during the same period last year.
From January to May, the Kingdom exported $10.18 billion worth of goods to foreign markets, a year-on-year increase of 10.8 percent, read the report.
Meanwhile, the country imported $11.4 billion worth of goods from trading partners, a 13.6 percent increase year-on-year, the report added.
China, Vietnam, and the US are Cambodia’s biggest partners during the period, with a trade value of $5.99 billion, $3.55 billion, and $3.52 billion, respectively.
However, the US remained the biggest market for Cambodia’s exports with a value of $3.42 billion which comes to 33.68 percent of the Kingdom’s total exports, read the report. Vietnam ranked second with imports from Cambodia reaching $1.88 billion.
Cambodia’s Free Trade Agreement with China and Korea and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have contributed to the rise in trade, the ministry’s secretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said.
“RCEP and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) have given a significant boost to the trade growth,” Sovicheat told Khmer Times.
Cambodia’s main export products are garments, machinery, electrical equipment, footwear products, leather goods, grain, furniture, rubber, fruits, vegetables, pearls, toys and textiles.
Cambodia’s major imports include medicines and supplements, consumables and food and beverages.
The garment, footwear and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia. The sector consists of roughly 1,300 factories, employing approximately 850,000 workers, mostly female.
