Continuing with its robust growth, Cambodia’s exported goods worth $14.76 billion to foreign markets in the first seven months of 2024.
The figure represented a 14 percent increase compared to the same period last year when exports totalled $12.9 billion, a report from the General Department of Customs and Excise showed on Sunday.
The US remains the biggest market for the Kingdom’s products with a total export of $5.51 billion, a year-on-year increase of 64 percent, read the report.
Vietnam and China ranked second and third with total exports of $2.2 billion, up 37.7 percent, and 0.97 billion, up 19.7 percent, respectively, added the report.
According to the report, the Kingdom imported $16.42 billion worth of goods during the above-mentioned period, 15.9 percent increase from $15.19 billion recorded in the same period last year.
This made the country’s international trade amount to $31.18 billion, 15 percent increase year-on-year.
Cambodia’s main export products are garments, machinery, electrical equipment, footwear products, leather goods, grain, furniture, rubber, fruits, vegetables, pearls, toys and textiles.
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.
Cambodia’s major imports include medicines and supplements, consumables and food and beverages.
The Ministry of Commerce attributed the export surge to a combination of factors, including increased global demand and the government’s trade facilitation initiatives, emphasizing the role of FTAs with China, Korea and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in unlocking new market opportunities for Cambodian products.
“The implementation of these FTAs has significantly reduced tariffs and trade barriers, making Cambodian goods more competitive in the global marketplace,” Penn Sovicheat, the ministry’s Secretary of State and Spokesman, told Khmer Times.
The industrial sector including garment and non-garment manufacturing is one of the main drivers in the country’s economic development, boosting exports, attracting new investment projects.
Cambodia’s manufacturing sector is experiencing robust growth with the number of factories reaching a new high of 2,175 as of June this year, according to a report from the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation.
The factory landscape has had a substantial impact on the Cambodian job market, a key driver of economic growth and poverty reduction in the country.
Lim Heng, Vice-President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, echoed the ministry’s remarks, stressing that existing trade preference schemes to the US and the EU have supported the country’s export excess to the large and potential markets.
“The combination of FTAs and trade preferences has created a favourable environment for Cambodian exporters,” Heng said.
