Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak (left) and US Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy.US EMBASSY IN PHNOM PENH
The Cambodian government has called on more US investors to build economic and trade relations with the Kingdom, the Ministry of Commerce said.
The call was made at a meeting between the US Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy and Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak during the 7th Asean-US Summit in Thailand on Sunday.
During the meeting with Murphy, Sorasak urged Americans to invest more in Cambodia.
“We urge the American business sector to invest more in Cambodia and participate in trade fairs and business matching to promote growth,” he said.
Sorasak said the US is committed to further promoting trade relations with Cambodia. “In response, the ambassador highly appreciated the cooperation of the two sides and vowed to further promote economic and trade relations,” he said.
US embassy in Phnom Penh spokesperson Emily Zeeberg told The Post on Monday that for Cambodia to continue its strong growth, the country needs high-quality investment and access to new markets.
“American companies offer world-class products, high labour and environmental standards, world-class training programmes, and state-of-the-art technologies,” she said.
Zeeberg said Murphy was currently in Bangkok with a Cambodia business delegation at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum.
“The Forum provides Cambodian businesses and other participants with key information about new US government initiatives to increase investment in priority sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and the digital economy,” she said.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng said the appeal shows the close ties between Cambodia and the US in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
He said most businesses in the Kingdom exported garments, footwear, travel bags and electronics.
“Last month, the US delegation visited Cambodia. They were interested in investing in the agriculture sector for export. It’s good to boost our agriculture sector,” he said.
Cambodia’s exports to the US in the first eight months of this year were worth $3.363 billion, while imports were $375 million, data from the US Bureau of Statistics said.
Last year, Cambodia was the 57th largest exporter of goods to the US and the 104th largest importer of US goods.
Cambodia’s exports to the US last year were worth $3.8 billion, while Cambodia imported $447 million.
