Cambodian accord to boost bilateral trade

October 27, 2016 | 14:17

(0) user say

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Cambodia’s Minister of Trade Pan Sorasak inked a noteworthy deal on boosting bilateral trade between the two countries on October 26.

Under this deal, which will take effect at the end of this year, Cambodia will charge Vietnam 0 per cent import tax on 29 items such as milk and ice cream, cassava starch, meat products, rice-based products, confectionery, plastic products, paper, porcelain and ceramic, steel and steel-based products.

“Through mutual incentives, enterprises on both sides of the border will have more visible access to the two markets,” Sorasak said. “In particular, the priorities that Cambodia gives to Vietnam are rather special and more sweeping than what most regional partners get. This will make Vietnamese goods more competitive than competing exported goods in Cambodia.”

Meanwhile, Vietnam will also waive import tax on 39 items imported from Cambodia, such as meat, lemon, rice, unhusked rice, gâteau cakes, tobacco (under quotas), plastic products, books and notebooks, textile cloth, and motorbikes.

“This will facilitate Vietnamese exporters to have more raw materials to perform export orders landed from other countries,” Tuan Anh said.

According to the Vietnamese government, the deal will help further the implementation of the Joint Statement inked between the two countries during the state visit by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang to Cambodia’s Phnom Penh city in mid-June 2016. The Joint Statement is aimed to lift bilateral trade turnover to $5 billion over the next few years.