Workers working at Meko Intelligent (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $32 million light bulbs, electronics and electronic parts factory in northern Takeo province in February. HMN
In the first nine months of 2023, Cambodia witnessed a substantial uptick in its imports of electrical machinery, equipment and related products from the international market, totalling more than $1.1 billion. This marks an increase of over 11% over the same period last year, as per data released by the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE).
Imports under Chapter HS 2 Code 85, encompassing electrical machinery and related items, amounted to $1.14 billion from January to September, reflecting an 11.1% surge compared to the $1.03 billion recorded during the same interval in the prior year. Goods categorised under Code 85 constituted 6.3% of Cambodia’s total imports, accounting for $18.22 billion.
In September alone, the country imported Code 85 products worth $116.33 million, a 7% decrease from the $125.08 million recorded in the same month last year.
Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), highlighted the important nature of Code 85 imports in the face of rapid technological advancements and the increasing demand for machinery for production and daily operations. He emphasised that the importation of these goods plays a pivotal role in enhancing the country’s production capacity and the increased export of goods to global markets.
“Growth in imports of these products is one of the factors that helps increase production capacity even higher,” he told The Post.
He added that the country has also been exporting Code 85 products to international markets for substantial earnings.
According to GDCE data, Cambodia’s exports of Chapter HS 2 Code 85 goods reached a total value of $2.48 billion in the first nine months of this year, marking a remarkable 93.5% increase from the $1.28 billion logged in the same period last year. These products contributed significantly to the country’s overall exports, accounting for 14.6% of the total export value of $16.94 billion.
Chhin Ken, president of the Cambodia Digital Tech Association (CDTA), told The Post that technology, machinery and electrical equipment have seen increasing demand owing to their heightened integration into various business operations and the growing technical know-how of the population.
“Machinery and electrical equipment are in increasing demand in all sectors. The use of machinery helps to increase Cambodia’s production capacity, therefore exports of Cambodian products to international markets will increase accordingly,” said Ken.
In 2022, the Kingdom netted $1.998 billion from the export of code 85 products, marking an impressive 84.8% surge from the $1.081 billion recorded in 2021. Import value of electrical machinery and related products constituted 8.9% of the total imports, which amounted to $22,482,937 million.
