The first three-day Koh Kong Investment and Trade Fair 2013 kicked off on Saturday, promoting trade and investment in the southern provinces of Cambodia with neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.

The fair consists of 86 domestic and foreign companies, and sees special participation from municipal and provincial trade departments including from Thailand and Vietnam, with a total of 126 booths, with many national and international products showcased.

“The [fair] is aimed at promoting trade and development in Koh Kong province and other border provinces in the southern region of the country, which is to further enlarge trade and the economy between Cambodian provinces, and with the provinces of Thailand and Vietnam that are boardering Cambodia in this southern region,” said Cham Prasidh, Cambodia’s Minister of Commerce.

“So we want to upgrade Koh Kong province to be a Cambodian-Thai-Vietnamese border gates’ tripatite trade area, and to promote Koh Kong province as a key area of investment for both Thai and Vietnamese investors as well,” said Cham Prasidh.

“These products will not only be able to meet the demands of the markets in Koh Kong province and those throughout Cambodia, but they can also serve as examples for all producers to study them, and as creative ideas to produce more competitive products for future supply with better quality and cheaper prices,” he said.

The Cambodian-Thai bilateral trade figures recorded by the customs and excise authorities of the two countries in 2012 were about $4 billion, in which Cambodian exports to Thailand were worth $249 million, and the Thai imports into Cambodia were worth about $3.783 billion.  

Meanhwile, the Cambodian-Vietnamese bilateral trade in 2012 was worth some $3.3 billion, in which Vietnamese exports to Cambodia were worth about $2.8 billion, and Cambodian exports to Vietnam were worth $486 million.