Experts forecast that China's Silk Road E-commerce plan will be a considerable driver of Sino-Cambodian trade and attract Chinese investment to the country. Cambodia and eastern China’s Jiangsu province launched the plan at the “Silk Road E-commerce Forum” on June 26.
Trade between the two countries grew from $5.8 billion in 2017 to more than $8 billion in 2020, despite the global Covid-19 pandemic, rising another 37 per cent to top $11 billion last year. Cambodian exports to China grow at an average of six-to-10 per cent each year.
For reference, Customs data show that bilateral trade in January-May amounted to $4.99026 billion, up 26.1 per cent year-on-year. Cambodian exports to China were worth $519.82 million, down 9.9 per cent, and imports $4.47044 billion, up 31.5 per cent.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng noted that the e-commerce plan was under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which he said would buoy Chinese investment in Cambodia, underpinned by the CCFTA and the Kingdom’s favorable geographical and legal conditions.
Source: phnompenhpost.com