General

According to the information released by the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia recently, Cambodia's trade volume with other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) reached 31 billion US dollars in 2022, up 4% year on year.

According to the report, Cambodia's international trade exports to other members of RCEP in 2022 were 6.34 billion US dollars, up 7% year on year; Imports from other members of the RCEP reached US $24.68 billion, up 3% year on year. China is still Cambodia's largest trading partner, with a trade volume of US $14.5 billion in 2022.

According to the data released by the Cambodian government earlier, Cambodia's total foreign trade in 2022 was 52.4 billion US dollars, up 9% year on year. Cambodia's international trade exports totaled 22.482 billion US dollars, up 16% year on year; The total import volume of international trade was 29.941 billion US dollars, up 4.3% year on year. The trade volume between Cambodia and RCEP members accounts for nearly 60% of its total trade volume.

The RCEP agreement entered into force on January 1, 2022. RCEP member countries account for about 30% of the world's population, total economic volume and total trade volume. It is the world's most populous free trade zone with the largest economic and trade scale and the most potential for development. Since the implementation of the RCEP agreement, Cambodia's international trade exports have increased significantly.

The previous report of the World Bank pointed out that the formal entry into force of the RCEP will make Cambodia one of the most beneficiary countries, which will effectively promote Cambodia's foreign trade and attract foreign investment. The report points out that the tariff reduction and simplification principles of rules of origin stipulated by RCEP will promote the productivity of countries in the region, vigorously promote trade and investment in the RCEP region, and create a more stable international trade and investment environment. The report also pointed out that due to the relatively high proportion of manufacturing industries in Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand in their GDP, it is expected to achieve higher substantial income growth in the next 10 years.