Sok Sopheak, secretary of state for the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, speaks at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023. Trade ties between China and Southeast Asian countries, including Cambodia, will be further deepened thanks to China's growing economy and their joint efforts to promote free trade, a senior Cambodian official said.
Sok Sopheak, secretary of state of the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, said that China is the driving force behind economic growth in the region.
The country is a big market that offers opportunities for its partners to export quality products, according to Sok, who said China's beef imports were nearly $20 billion in 2022.
Sok was speaking to reporters on Wednesday after attending a panel discussion titled Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation: New Opportunities and Challenges, at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 in China's island of Hainan.
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The four-day forum, which began on Tuesday, was held under the theme An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges. Sok said he expects countries to benefit from trade with China because of its open economic policy.
It's good for Cambodia and ASEAN, but also some other members of the RCEP agreement, Sok said.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which enters into force on January 1, 2022, is the world's largest free trade agreement, consisting of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its five major trading partners - China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The agreement has been ratified by all of its members.
In 2022, China's trade with other RCEP member countries reached 12.95 trillion yuan $1.88 trillion, up 7.5 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.
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Sok sees opportunities for Cambodia thanks to the country's bilateral free trade agreement with China, which came into effect at the same time as the RCEP.
After a year of implementation, even though we are still suffering from the Pandemic and high oil prices, we still increased our exports to China by around 4 percent, said Sok, adding a similar increase was seen in China's exports to Cambodia.
According to Sok, Chinese investment into ASEAN countries is increasing rapidly, as China's investment has helped many infrastructure projects in Cambodia.
In the first 11 months of 2022, China's non-financial direct investment in Cambodia was $690 million, an increase of 32.7 percent from the previous year, according to the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia.
Sok said Cambodia received a lot of assistance and concession loans for developing infrastructure and financing.
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Sok said that this is a kind of shared future and prosperity between Cambodia and China.
This year is the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia and was designated as the China-Cambodia Friendship Year.