Bangladesh’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs chairman Muhammad Faruk Khan shakes hands with Cambodia’s National Assembly first vice-president Nguon Nhel on January 6, 2020. National Assembly
With Bangladeshi investments in Cambodia remaining meagre, the Kingdom has called on the South Asian country to encourage its investors to channel funds here.
The request was made at a bilateral meeting between Nguon Nhel, the first vice-president of the National Assembly, and Muhammad Faruk Khan, Bangladeshi Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, on Sunday.
Nhel told Khan that all of Cambodia’s sectors had high potential due to its sound investment laws, strong macroeconomy and strategic position in the Asean region.
“I hope the Bangladeshi parliament will encourage more investments into Cambodia, especially in trade, and the tourism sector,” he said.
Khan was also informed that the Kingdom had a large pool of young labour, which could benefit Bangladeshi interests.
In response, Khan said Bangladesh and Cambodia enjoyed good cooperation, adding that he would strive for more investors and tourists from his country to consider the Kingdom as an option.
Cambodia signed an agreement to export 250,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh at the end of 2017, but the deal was later rescinded amid industry insiders claiming the sector could not produce enough of the grain to meet demand.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Pen Sovicheat confirmed that trade between the two countries remained low. However, he said the potential increase in trade volumes would create employment opportunities for Cambodians.
“The promotion of new market relations is a goal that the Ministry of Commerce is striving towards every day,” he said.
In 2018, during a bilateral meeting between Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak and the leaders of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Commerce, the two leaders pledged to examine the possibility of entering into an agreement to boost trade volumes between the two countries to $100 million by 2020.
The report from the Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand said bilateral trade volumes between Cambodia and Bangladesh reached $13.38 million in the first nine months of last year. Of this, Cambodia exported $7.01 million worth of goods and imported $6.37 million.
