Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed to boost bilateral tradeto US$5 billion (163 billion baht) with the acceleration of a border trade agreement following an increase in trade volume between both countries.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said after meeting his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi last week: “I want to see an acceleration in the negotiation involving the border trade agreement between both countries, with its forthcoming signing soon,” according to Kao Kim Huon, the minister attached to the PM’s office.
Kim Huon said the agreement is expected to be inked during an official visit by Hun Sen to Vietnam in the near future, according to the Khmer Times.
The two nations are currently finalising negotiations for the signing of the border trade agreement, which will ease trade traffic between the two countries.
The leaders of Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to enhance a comprehensive co-operation between the two nations. As a result, they intend to raise bilateral trade to $5 billion in the coming years.
The border trade agreement between Cambodia and Vietnam was initiated in 2016.
The aim is to address current challenges in overland trade between both countries. It will help smoothen import and export issues along the main common border and also at other corridors.
The bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Cambodia in 2017 reached $3.8 billion, up more than 25% over 2016, according to figures provided by the Vietnamese embassy to Phnom Penh.
Of the total, Cambodia’s imports from Vietnam reached $2.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26%. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s export rose to $1 billion, up 40.6%.