Cambodia’s exports to India reached $161.35 million in the January to August period of the year, registering an increase of 38.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
The rise in exports to India is also one of the fastest growths on a list of top 20 export destinations of the Kingdom, revealed the latest trade data of the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE).
India accounted for one percent of Cambodia’s total exports, the GDCE data showed.
For comparison, the exports to China went up by 16.8 percent, to Vietnam by 26.1 percent and to the US, they declined by 4.8 percent during the same period. The US, however, continued to have the biggest export share of 38.9 percent of Cambodia’s products, followed by Vietnam and China, with 11.8 percent and six percent respectively.
Cambodia’s imports from India, however, declined by 15.1 percent and reached $145.56 million during the January to August period of 2023, compared to the same period last year, giving the Kingdom a surplus of $15.78 million in the bilateral trade for the period.
Devyani Khobragade, Ambassador of India to Cambodia, recently said that a number of business exchanges in diverse areas such as gems & jewellery, electronics, software, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals are poised to boost bilateral trade between the two countries further.
According to the Ambassador, there has been a significant rise in trade between Cambodia and India for the last several years. “The Bilateral Investment treaty that is nearing finalisation will act as a catalyst for more Indian investment in Cambodia,” she noted during an event organised to celebrate India’s 77th Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh.
The ambassador also referred to the progress of establishing direct air connectivity between our two countries, which will boost trade further besides helping the two-way tourism between Cambodian and India.
In addition to boosting air connectivity, efforts are also on to establish a road link between Cambodia and India. Leaders of both countries have expressed interest in extending the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) trilateral highway to Cambodia with Indian soft credit.
The rapid rise in exports to India was also facilitated by the Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme it launched for Cambodia in 2018. Cambodia and India are currently negotiating terms for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement as well.
The six-member Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) to which both India and Cambodia are partners has also helped to improve the ties between the two countries. Others in the alliance are Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Lao PDR.
India’s assistance to Cambodia, under the MGC Quick Impact Projects (QIP) Scheme stands as a testimony to the cooperation between the two countries.
Since its inception in 2015-16, 78 projects have been completed so far in Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) at a cost of $3.9 million and 27 projects are under implementation, it was revealed at the 12th MGC Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bangkok this July.
Besides this, under the bilateral track, India has extended several lines of credit to CLMV countries worth about $1.76 billion for various projects in areas such as hydro power and water resource development, infrastructure development, digital connectivity, rural electrification, irrigation, and installation of transmission lines, said a Joint Ministerial Statement issued after the high-level meeting.
