Worldbridge Group has signed an agreement with Chinese company Zhejiang Yiwu Small Commodity City Group to increase trade efficiency between Yiwu city, Zhejiang Province while Cambodia enhances global branding in the country.

WorldBridge Group’s founding chairman Sear Rithy told reporters that the strategic cooperation agreement is an important event for both companies.

The agreement would help Cambodia enhance its strategy for “Global Branding” abroad and strengthen economic cooperation between Cambodia and other ASEAN countries.

Zhao Wenge, chairman of Zhejiang Yiwu Small Commodity City Group, said the cooperation would be mutually beneficial for both parties. “The two sides might also create a ‘win-win’ situation together.”

He added that the agreement is a sign of “deepening economic relations between Cambodia and China” and would increase joint development in trade.

“The agreement aims to increase trade between Yiwu and Cambodia, as well as industrial development, and raise the supply chain value of the two regions,” Worldbridge Group said.

Previously, Hong Vanak, an economics researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, has said that with “good political relations and close geography”, bilateral trade would expand more in the future, especially agricultural exports from Cambodia.

In addition to being a source of raw materials for factories in Cambodia, China also has many investors in Cambodia.

“Given current global economic uncertainties, Cambodia must strengthen its production capacity and be more diverse to increase its presence in the Chinese market and other countries,” he said.

According to Cambodia’s General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), trade between Cambodia and China rose 1.8 per cent to $7.1 billion in the first eight months of 2023 from nearly $7 billion last year.

Cambodia’s exports to China amounted to $814.7 million, up 16.2 per cent, while imports from China amounted to $6.3 billion, which is an increase of 0.1 per cent.