BILATERAL trade between Cambodia and Indonesia increased by 24.7 percent in the first nine months of 2010,   and looks set to keep growing, according to trade officials yesterday.

Two-way trade between the countries reached US$175 million in the year to October, compared with $140 million over the same period last year, according to figures from the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh.

Exports to Indonesia rose from $2.5 million to $3.1 million, a gain of more than 22.8 percent, while imports from Indonesia increased from $138 million to $172 million, up more than 24.7 percent.

Cambodia’s main exports to Indonesia were unprocessed rubber, textiles, clothing and agricultural products.

Its main imports were medical products, consumer goods, manufactured goods, machinery and electrical appliances.

Indonesian ambassador Soehardjono Sastromihardjo said last month that he predicted trade between the countries would grow by more than 20 percent every year. He was hopeful trade would reach $250 million this year, up from $202 million in 2009.

He said Cambodia’s agriculture sector could help meet Indonesia’s demand for rice. Its population needed 20 million tonnes a year.

“We want to import rice to our country. Now, we are looking for a lot – about 300,000 tonnes,” he said.

Nguon Meng Tech, director general of Cambodia’s Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday that the Kingdom had the potential to export more agricultural products to Indonesia in the future, especially rice products, because Indonesia had a large population but lacked sufficient farmland.