A view of Da Market on the Cambodia-Vietnam border, in Tbong Khmum province. INTERIOR MINISTRY
The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has asked Vietnamese Customs for its full commitment to the Single Stop Inspection and Common Control Area (SSI & CCA) initiative, in the interest of boosting cross-border trade between the two countries.
Although the Kingdom has been as “fully” compliant as possible with the initiative’s requirements for some time, as per ASEAN and Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) guidelines, certain challenges in intra-regional trade have been pinned on the “few” holdout member states of the international organisations.
This is according to Nguon Meng Tech, director-general of the CCC, the apex Cambodian business association, in an interview with The Post on January 11.
The CCC has discussed the issue “a few times” with the Vietnamese business community, encouraging players to take the matter up with Hanoi, he affirmed.
He acknowledged that “the Thais said they’d also cooperate over the issue”, and voiced appreciation for the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) for “actively making cross-border trade easier for the private sector”.
Cambodia Logistics Association president Sin Chanthy told The Post on January 11 that he had led a delegation comprising representatives of 50 logistics firms to the ASEAN Federation of Forwarders Association (AFFA) Annual General Meeting in Laos last month.
At the meeting, Vietnam’s hesitation to adopt the SSI & CCA was raised, he said, adding that Hanoi has yet to provide a “positive response” over the implementation of the initiative.
“Member states need to participate to smooth cross-border trade and a number of other related infrastructure fees that could pose barriers to export flows,” he added.
At Cambodia-Vietnam border checkpoints, the SSI & CCA requires a designated place for Customs officers from both countries to simultaneously inspect cross-border cargo, but “we have yet to iron things out”, Chanthy explained.
The CCC’s Meng Tech suggested using border markets as common control areas to ensure the success of the initiative. “If the border markets work well, Customs of both sides could easily work together, and this could promote cross-border trade,” he said.
Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed to build three of these border markets: Da Market in Tbong Khmum province which opened in December 24, 2019, and one in each of Svay Rieng and Kampot provinces.
On the sidelines of the dual ASEAN summits in Phnom Penh in November, Cambodia and Vietnam signed 11 cooperation documents covering areas such as land transport; agriculture; cross-border trade; commerce; TV and radio; telecoms, ICT and digital development; labour; payment systems and financial innovation.
The Cambodia-Vietnam merchandise trade closed 2022 at $6.136 billion, up 19.64 per cent versus 2021, with the Kingdom’s exports to and imports from its neighbour to the tune of $2.169 billion and $3.967 billion, respectively, up 9.25 per cent and 26.20 per cent on a yearly basis, according to the GDCE.
The Kingdom’s trade deficit with Vietnam for the year expanded by 55.25 per cent, from $1.158 billion in 2021 to $1.799 billion in 2022.
Vietnam was the second largest exporter to Cambodia last year, after mainland China at $10.446 billion, and followed by Thailand ($3.833 billion), Singapore ($3.230 billion) and Switzerland ($1.436 billion).
