Foreign minister Prak Sokhonn (right) greets his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai on the last of the three-day 11th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation, on Saturday. AKP
Cambodia and Thailand have conceded missing the $15 billion target for bilateral trade again this year due to the Covid-19 crisis that has plagued the world for the greater part of two years.
But refusing to be intimidated by this year’s less-than-satisfactory results, the two ASEAN neighbours have agreed to extend the period for meeting the target until 2025.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart General Prayut Chan-o-cha initially vowed to achieve the $15 billion goal by 2020, during the opening of the 3rd Cambodia-Thailand Joint Cabinet Retreat at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on September 13, 2017.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai co-chaired the 11th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation, held in Phnom Penh from December 16-18.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the two foreign ministers agreed to task relevant institutions with seeking innovative ways to further expand the scope of and explore more opportunities to boost Cambodia-Thailand trade and investment.
The Cambodian foreign ministry said in a statement on December 21: “Both sides agreed to accelerate the conclusion of the MoU [memorandum of understanding] on Transit of Goods as well as discuss the phytosanitary certification procedures for import and export of agricultural products.
“Both sides also highlighted the importance of the opening of new international check points which will facilitate faster and better transportation and increase the volume of bilateral trade between the two Kingdoms.
“With Thailand as one of Cambodia’s biggest trading partners in the region, the ministers are confident that the two countries could achieve the bilateral trade target of $15 billion by 2025.”
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng underlined that Covid has interrupted cross-border trade as the two countries strive to rein in community outbreaks.
“I’m really sorry to see that we couldn’t achieve the target for bilateral trade with Thailand as both of our leaders had pledged. However, we are happy to see the two economies reopen as we’ve been able to successfully control the spread of Covid-19 –this is a very positive sign for the economies,” he said.
He added that meeting the new 2025 deadline would hinge on the effectiveness in both countries’ management strategies for new coronavirus variants.
“I still do worry that the spread of Covid-19 will be interfering in trade between our two nations. However, I do believe in the direction of the leaders of both countries in controlling Covid-19, as we are now able to fully reopen the economy,” Heng said.
Cambodia Business Council in Thailand (CBC) president Sothea Sambath told The Post on December 21 that as a representative of private Cambodian firms in Bangkok, the CBC will work closely with other relevant business associations, and bring more Cambodian-made products to Thai shelves.
“We the private sector still want to drive up bilateral trade further, and we’ll find a way to make more improvements. Now, we plan to push more of our local products into Thailand.
“In 2022, we plan to hold a Cambodian week trade exhibition and hype up our products in Thailand – not just home-made agricultural goods or tourism, but also our currently booming real-estate sector.
“We are planning to strike more MoUs with the business associations of Thailand to promote our products, which will help to cut our trade deficit with Thailand,” he said.
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Thailand reached $5.97 billion in the first nine months of 2021, surging by 18 per cent year-on-year from $5.08 billion, according to a report from the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok.
In January-September, Cambodia’s exports to Thailand were worth $687 million, dipping by 28 per cent from $958 million in the year-ago period, and imports were to the tune of $5.28 billion, up by 14 per cent year-on-year from $4.61 billion, according to the report.
Major Cambodian exports to Thailand over the nine months included textiles, agricultural products, precious stones, raw materials and semi-finished products; while notable imports were energy, fishes, meats, vegetables, automobiles, organic fertilisers, cement and foodstuffs.
Cambodia exported $1.148 billion worth of merchandise to Thailand in 2020, down 49.49 per cent year-on-year, and imported $6.089 billion, down 14.80 per cent from 2019, according to embassy data.
