Cambodia’s total exports to Thailand sharply increased in the first quarter of the year, according to official data from Ministry of Commerce received by the Post last week.

Officials said the rise is the result of efforts by both countries to improve trade facilitation and economic relations.

According to the data, total exports from Cambodia totalled $102 million in the first quarter of the year, compared with $85.43 million in the first quarter of last year, an increase of 19.4 per cent. However, total imports from Thailand declined more than 4 per cent, to $1.005 billion from $1.048 billion.

“A lot of Cambodia’s agricultural products had been exported to Thailand as some barriers had be improved and solved – that’s why we see the number of exports from Cambodia to Thailand increase a lot,” Thai embassy’s Foreign Trade Promotion officer to Phnom Penh, Jiranan Wongmongkol, said.

However, Thailand’s exports to Cambodia declined due to the appreciation of the Thai baht, she said.

“Although the baht appreciated, the flow of our trade is normal – nothing to be concerned about,” Jiranan added.

Cham Prasidh, the Cambodian Minister of Commerce, said during the opening of the Koh Kong Trade-Investment expo last week that the government is committed to the implementation of bilateral trade agreements with neighbouring countries, like Thailand and Vietnam.  

“The increase of these trade figures are attributed to the promotion of trade activities in all targets, and to the policies to open up trade in the framework of the free market economy of Cambodia,” he said.

Thailand’s exports to Cambodia include petroleum, processed goods, cement, consumer products, construction materials, fruits, vegetables and cosmetics, while Cambodia mostly ships agricultural products, second hand garments, recyclable metal, and fish.

Last month the Post reported that Cambodian export values increased more than 21 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, and officials said the rise was a positive sign for the Kingdom’s economic growth.

According to the Ministry of Commerce’s export data, exports surpassed $1.65 billion in the first three-month period of this year, compared with $1.36 billion in the same period last year.