Phnom Penh [Cambodia], October 6: Cambodia exported 5.26 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods to fellow member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in the first eight months of 2023, up 22 percent from 4.3 billion dollars over the same period last year, according to the latest report by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
During the January-August period this year, Cambodia's top three export destinations under the RCEP agreement are Vietnam, China and Japan, the report said.
Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's secretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the RCEP, took effect in 2022, has been a key driving force for the kingdom's export growth and has become a magnet to attract more foreign direct investment inflows to the country.
He added that this world's largest free trade agreement, together with other bilateral FTAs, will help Cambodia graduate from its least developed country status by 2027 and achieve its goals of becoming an upper-middle income country by 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050.
The RCEP free trade deal comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Source: Xinhua
