Cambodia ratifies free trade agreement with South Korea

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni ratified the Cambodia-Korea Free Trade Agreement on 29 January 2022, paving the way for the agreement to come into force within 60 days.

The agreement was previously finalised in October 2021, after which it sailed through the country’s legislative bodies in December 2021. 

Trade between the countries came in at around US$965 million in 2021, up 9% year-on-year, with Cambodian imports from South Korea worth US$623 million and exports worth US$341 million.

The CKFTA is expected to boost Cambodia’s exports to South Korea, which mostly comprise garments and textiles, footwear, bags, electronics, spare parts, rubber and agricultural products.
 

CAMBODIA, JAPAN
Cambodia and Japan are discussing the possibility of a bilateral free trade agreement to boost the flow of trade, services and investment between the countries, according to Cambodia’s commerce minister who shared that his ministry was discussing the matter with the Japan-Cambodia Association. 

JETRO data found that trade between the countries totalled US$2.33 billion in 2021, up almost 11% year-on-year.

Cambodian exports accounted for US$1.75 billion of the sum, while its imports from Japan accounted for US$1.72 billion.

However, preliminary data from Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce showed that bilateral trade came in at around US$1.70 billion in 2021, with exports to Japan at US$1.09 billion and imports at US$0.49 billion.