Cambodia’s trade with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries hit $2.74 billion in January, an increase of 21.2 percent year on year, said a Ministry of Commerce report on Thursday.
The report said Cambodia’s total trade volume with other RCEP members accounted for 67.6 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s total trade of $4.05 billion in January this year.
Its top five trading partners under the regional mega-trade pact are China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Indonesia, the report added.
The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce’s Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said RCEP is a catalyst for the country’s trade growth and a magnet to attract more foreign direct investments to the kingdom.
He said despite rising protectionism and weakening global demand, RCEP has boosted regional trade and investment cooperation, bringing tremendous benefits to all member countries.
“It has helped the member countries to boost faster post-pandemic recovery and sustainable long-term trade growth, contributing to enhancing regional peace, stability, harmony, development, and prosperity,” he told Xinhua.
Sovicheat said the world’s largest free trade pact will help Cambodia to achieve its ambitious goals of becoming an upper-middle income country by 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050.
Entering into force on Jan. 1, 2022, RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states — 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. Xinhua khmertimeskh
