Cambodia’s trade ties with Canada, European Union touch new heights

Trade volume rises to 26% growth with Canada and with that of EU it shot up to 11% in January-October 2021

Trade investment between Cambodia and Canada has scaled up to $822 million in the first 10 months of 2021, marking a 26 per cent year-on-year hike, while trade with the European Union (EU) shot up by 11 per cent to about $3.48 billion during the same period, says the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce. The catch, however, is the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce is working closely with the ministry to open its first office in Canada soon, following which the trade flow will augment further.

Already, the bilateral trade between the two nations has been bullish. In a recent conversation with Khmer Times, the Canadian Charge d’Affaires Jan Scazighino went on record saying, “The bilateral commercial relationship is the fastest growing in the region. Canada is one of Cambodia’s top export destinations and bilateral merchandise trade has grown consistently. The 2020 Canadian merchandise exports to Cambodia were valued at $31.4 million and 2020 Canadian merchandise imports from Cambodia were valued at $1.5 billion. The 2020 Canadian direct investment into Cambodia stood at $1.02 billion. This means that Canada remains a very important market for Cambodia.”

The year 2022 is expected to witness the return of both Canadian tourists and business people to Cambodia. Investments in areas especially like the cleantech, aerospace, education and finance are likely to escalate.

According to Scazighino, Canada has invested over $1 billion in the Kingdom. Canadian companies in Cambodia include Manulife, the first life insurer to receive a licence to operate in the Kingdom; National Bank of Canada that acquired 100 percent share of the ABA Bank and now has become one of the top three commercial banks of Cambodia.

Other Canadian businesses in Cambodia include Angkor Resources, Learning Jungle School, Duraflex Solutions (Asia), Bell Helicopter and start-ups like Demine Robotics and Monkiri.

Cambodian exports to Canada from January-October 2021 were worth $790 million, up by 31 per cent year-on-year from $604 million. Similarly, imports logged $32 million, down by 33 per cent from $48 million in the same period in 2020.

In addition, Cambodia has exported a lot of core merchandise to the Canadian market such as textile products, garments and apparel, travel goods and bicycles.

Coming to the country’s exports to the EU it registered $2.62 billion from January to October 2021, up 1 per cent compared to the same period last year; and imported $864 million worth of goods from the EU, a YoY rise of 54 per cent. Cambodia is the EU’s 54th largest trading partner.

Among the products that Cambodia mostly exported to EU are agricultural products, including milled rice, textiles and footwear and bicycles, and imported construction materials, food and beverage and pharmaceutical products.

Source: KhmerTimes