Cambodia saw high growth in exports in the January-June period this year, driven by the resumption of socio-economic activities, trade preferences in the Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership and the bilateral free trade agreement with China.
The Kingdom exported $11.37 billion worth of products to international markets in the first half, a 33.9 percent increase from the same period last year, according to official figures from the General Department of Customs and Excises.
The import rose 11.9 percent to $15.86 billion.
This made the country’s trade deficit at $4.48 billion, a 21 percent decrease compared to the last year.
The United States remains the largest market for Cambodian exports with $4.64 billion, up 54 percent from the same period last year. It was followed by Vietnam with a 3.4 percent growth in exports at $1.17 billion.
Clothing, footwear and travel goods are the main commodities, accounting for over 50 percent of Cambodia’s total exports in the first six months.
China is the largest trading partner of Cambodia, followed by the United States, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, the report said, adding that the Sino-Cambodian trade volume rose 19.7 percent to $5.98 billion.
Cambodia imported $5.37 billion worth of goods from China, a 24.2 percent increase year on year.
The Cambodian government reopened the country in November 2021 after controlling the spread of Covid-19 with a high rate of vaccinated population.
Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, attributed the growth in export to the effective control of the Covid-19 situation with almost all the population vaccinated. The trade preferences under the RCEP and Cambodia-China FTA have boosted Cambodia’s economic recovery, driving the production chains of industrial enterprises.
“The government controlling the pandemic situation led to the resumption of socio-economic activities, pushing a good production chain in the factories,” Heng said.
“The Covid-19 crisis still remained in other countries, disrupting the production chains. This has pushed orders from elsewhere to Cambodia and a number of new factories have relocated to Cambodia, which results in the growth in exports,” Heng pointed out.
Heng Sokkung, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation, said that the government was diversifying garment production to non-garment productions.
“The export of non-garment and textile products has significantly increased. After strengthening the garment and textiles sector, we are now boosting investment in the non-garment and textile sector due to its value-addition,” Sokkung said.
Source: Khmer Times
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<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
