PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s international trade amounted to $23.69 billion in the first six months of this year, a 13 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, the General Department of Customs and Excise’s report showed on Monday.
From January to June, Cambodia exported a total of $11.46 billion worth of goods, down 0.8 percent, read the report. The Kingdom’s imports also saw a decrease by 22.9 percent to $12.22 billion, the report said.
The U.S. remained the biggest market for Cambodia, importing $4.23 billion worth of products, a year-on-year decline of 8.9 percent, followed by Vietnam which imported $1.42 billion of Cambodian products, up 21.7 percent. The Kingdom’s other main trade partners during the period were Thailand, Japan, the European Union, and China.
Despite the decline in exports, Cambodia’s trade growth will be expectedly higher this year and beyond as the country received orders from buyers in the main trading countries, said H.E. Penn Sovicheat, Under-Secretary of State and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce.
“The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and free trade agreements with China and Korea have played important roles in promoting Cambodia-made products and making Cambodian products attractive in the long term,” he said.
Cambodia’s main exported products are garments, textiles, footwear, machinery and electrical equipment, bicycle, leather goods, grains, furniture, rubber, fruits, vegetables, pearls, and toys.
The garment, footwear, and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia. The sector consists of roughly 1,300 factories and branches, employing approximately 840,000 workers, most of them are female.