Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak at a virtual meeting on October 25 with an Australian delegation led by his counterpart Dan Tehan. COMMERCE MINISTRY
Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak has requested Australia for more technical assistance and cooperation, to support trade and other aspects of economic development, as bilateral trade continues to grow at a largely steady pace.
The call was made at a virtual meeting on October 25 between ministry leaders, led by Sorasak, and an Australian delegation led by his counterpart Dan Tehan, with the Oceanian country’s ambassador to Cambodia, Pablo Kang, in attendance.
Sorasak stressed that Australia has always provided assistance to Cambodia in the interest of socio-economic development, especially with Covid-19 vaccines, which he said remain an important vehicle to support the Kingdom’s swift recovery from the ongoing crisis.
He thanked the Australian government “for its continued support and technical assistance to Cambodia, to prop up the economic development process, especially in the trade sector”.
“Cambodia is committed to further strengthening and expanding bilateral cooperation.”
Tehan commended the Royal Government of Cambodia on its effective control of the Covid-19 epidemic and “great success” of the vaccination campaign.
He noted that bilateral trade is chugging along on a positive note, growing steadily year after year.
During the meeting, the two sides also discussed and exchanged views on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), of which Cambodia and Australia are members. The King on October 5 promulgated the RCEP into law in the Kingdom.
And in what has been hailed as a success story of close cooperation between the two governments, Renaissance Minerals (Cambodia) Ltd, a subsidiary of Australia-listed Perth-based Emerald Resources NL, now mines and processes gold ore at the Okvau Gold Project in the eastern corridor of Chung Phlas commune of southwestern Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima district (GPS Coordinates: 12.63N, 106.79E).
Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries was worth $213.64 million, up by 3.82 per cent from $205.79 million in 2019, according to commerce ministry data.
The Kingdom exported $133.92 million worth of merchandise last year, up by 0.26 per cent year-on-year, and imported $79.72 million, surging by 10.41 per cent year-on-year.
These figures indicate that the Kingdom’s trade surplus with Australia contracted 11.7 per cent from $61.4 million in 2019 to $54.2 million last year.
