Bilateral FTA with China boosts Cambodia's exports: PM

KAMPONG CHHNANG, Cambodia, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Thursday that the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), which took effect on Jan. 1, 2022, has given a boost to the kingdom's exports to China.

"More and more Cambodian products have been shipped to China," he said in a speech during a get-together with more than 18,000 garment factory workers here in central Kampong Chhnang province.

"Our agricultural products such as mangoes, longans, bananas and fish, which had no market in the past, have gained access to China under the CCFTA," he added.

Recently, the General Administration of Customs of China has also allowed the Southeast Asian country to export its pepper and 12 kinds of wild aquatic products, including shrimp, fish, eel and river snails, to China.

Im Rachna, undersecretary of state and spokeswoman for Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said China is a huge market for Cambodian potential agricultural products including milled rice, yellow bananas, fresh mangoes and longans.

"The export of our agricultural products to China has importantly promoted the development of Cambodian agriculture and brought a lot of benefits to Cambodian people, particularly farmers," she told Xinhua.

According to a report from Cambodia's General Department of Customs and Excise, the kingdom exported products worth 439.5 million U.S. dollars to China from January to April 2023, up 3.7 percent from 423.7 million dollars over the same period last year.