PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's exports to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries continued to increase, indicating the emergence of a growing market for the country's products.

The Kingdom shipped US$6.45 billion worth of goods to RCEP countries in the first ten months of this year, up 26.4 percent from US$5.1 billion in the same period last year, a report from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

The two-way trade between Cambodia and RCEP countries, however, decreased by 7.6 percent to US$24.12 billion, it pointed out.

The country's RCEP exports accounted for 33 percent of the Kingdom's total trade of US$19.33 billion during the January-October period, the report added.

The RCEP free trade agreement entered into force on Jan. 1, 2022. The regional trade pact comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including the ten Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

RCEP, covering 2.3 billion people, or 30 percent of the world's population, contributed US$26.2 trillion, about 30 percent of global GDP, and accounted for 28 percent of global trade in goods and services, and 32.5 percent of global foreign direct investment inflows.

Under the mega-regional pact, as much as 90 percent of the tariffs on goods traded among its signatories will be eliminated over the next 20 years.