Cambodia and the Philippines have agreed to strengthen collaboration in various fields, including agriculture, digitalisation, mechanisation, food processing, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), energy and low-cost housing.
The two countries also explored cooperation in the field of elderly medical care, particularly the hiring of Filipino nurses.
President Ferdinand Marcos invited Cambodian businesses to invest in the Philippines, during a roundtable meeting with chief executive officers (CEOs) in Phnom Penh on Thursday. He also talked about tie-ups in garments and travelling bag manufacturing as well as digitalisation for the ease of doing business and rice import.
As the Philippines economy emerges from the clutches of the Covid pandemic, the government needs private sector partners, Marcos said indicating his country’s much-improved investment climate.
The President touted the third-quarter jobs data that showed a drop in unemployment to 5 percent from 5.6-5.7 percent, which is the lowest since the onset of the pandemic. Marcos said the 7.7 percent growth for the last quarter also seemed to be the highest growth rate in Asia now.
Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, and Enrique A. Manalo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, appreciated the long-standing friendship as well as cooperation in many areas during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh on 9 November.
Both nations are commemorating the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations and hoping that it would add momentum to the bilateral ties. They recalled the success of the third Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn and former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Teodoro Locsin Jr, in December and the impetus it gave to ties.
The two leaders hailed the increasing trade exchanges aimed at promoting bilateral trade, investment, and cooperation. They agreed to expedite negotiation on the draft agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.
Sokhonn urged the Philippines to import more rice from Cambodia and to make use of Cambodia’s new investment law with favourable incentives to explore investment opportunities, especially in the agri-food industry. They also discussed tourism and Sokhonn advocated an increase in direct flights between Manila and Phnom Penh, and possibly between Cebu and Siem Reap.
They also took up cooperation in human resource development, security and defence, agriculture and better cooperation between the two countries in the international arena.
Source: Khmer Times
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<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
