Cambodia’s international trade was amounted to US$23.69 billion in the first six months of this year, a 13 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, the General Department of Customs and Excise’s report showed on Monday.

From January to June, Cambodia exported a total of US$11.46 billion worth of goods, inching up 0.8 percent, read the report.

The Kingdom’s imports saw a decrease by 22.9 percent to US$12.22 billion, the report said.

The U.S. remained the biggest market for Cambodia, importing US$4.23 billion worth of products, a year-on-year decline of 8.9 percent, followed by Vietnam which imported US$1.42 billion Cambodian products, up 21.7 percent.

The Kingdom’s other main trade partners during the period were Thailand, Japan, the European Union, and China.

Despite the decline in exports, Cambodia’s trade growth will be expectedly higher this year and beyond as the country received orders from buyers in the main trading countries, said H.E. Penn Sovicheat, Under-Secretary of State and Spokespereson of the Ministry of Commerce.

“The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, free trade agreements with China and Korea have played important roles in promoting Cambodia-made products and making Cambodian products attractive in the long term,” he said.

Cambodia’s main exported products are garments, textiles, footwear, machinery and electrical equipment, bicycle, leather goods, grains, furniture, rubber, fruits, vegetables, pearls, and toys.

The garment, footwear and travel goods industry are the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia. The sector consists of roughly 1,300 factories and branches, employing approximately 840,000 workers, most of them are female.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse