Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) in April 2023. Post Staff
Bilateral trade relations between Cambodia and the UK are expected to strengthen as Cambodia's private sector plans discussions with the UK-ASEAN Business Council during Prime Minister Hun Manet’s participation in the ASEAN summits in Laos this week.
Manet will lead a government delegation, including representatives from the private sector, to attend the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related meetings in Vientiane from October 8-11.
According to a statement from the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), a business delegation will also participate in the 2024 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS), which will address topics such as ASEAN’s positioning in geopolitics, enhancing economic connectivity and resilience, ASEAN’s role in the global economy and ASEAN’s outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
The CCC delegates will further their engagement by attending key events including the Logistics Forum and meetings with stakeholders in the ASEAN business community.
During the trip, CCC president and chair of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council-Cambodia (ASEAN BAC-Cambodia) Kith Meng will meet with UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) chair Ed Vaizey to discuss cooperation between the two councils to promote business and investment between the two nations.
According to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), trade between Cambodia and the UK improved in 2024. In the first eight months of the year, bilateral trade amounted to $680.34 million, up 15.5 per cent from the same period in 2023.
Exports to the UK were worth $643.84 million, an increase of 22 per cent, while imports from the UK totalled $36.5 million, a decrease of 40.1 per cent.
Cambodia’s trade surplus for the first eight months of 2024 stood at $607.34 million. The UK is the country’s 10th-largest trading partner.
CCC director-general Nguon Meng Tech told The Post on October 7 that the upcoming bilateral discussions between the two nations would benefit Cambodia’s trade and diplomatic cooperation with various partner countries.
“As part of the private sector, we are eager to strengthen and increase our relationship with the UK to enhance and boost trade further,” he said.
However, Meng Tech emphasised that it remains uncertain how much this will positively impact trade and investment growth.
Hong Vanak, an economist at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, highlighted that the UK is a major market for Cambodian exports, particularly garments, footwear, travel goods and bicycles.
He suggested that strengthening cooperation with the UK, a large and economically advanced country, would likely benefit the country’s economy. Vanak added that, as part of Europe, the UK could help Cambodia expand its goods flow to other European markets.
"Any enhancement of good cooperation will yield positive results for both partner countries," he said.
Furthermore, Vanak noted that if the country secures a larger market share in the UK, it could attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) to Cambodia for manufacturing and processing goods for international markets, including the UK.
In 2023, the impact of global economic and political crises caused total trade between Cambodia and the UK to fall to approximately $872.96 million, a 10.7 per cent decline from $977.44 million in 2022.
Exports to the UK dropped by 10.2 per cent to $796.38 million, while imports from the UK fell by 16 per cent to $76.58 million, according to the GDCE.
