PHNOM PENH: The Cambodian Minister of Commerce, Pan Sorasak, led a delegation from the commerce ministry to meet with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to ASEAN, Jon Lambe, and the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Cambodia, Tina Redshaw, on Tuesday afternoon at the Ministry of Commerce in Phnom Penh.
During the meeting, Minister Pan Sorasak thanked the British Government for providing preferential trade to the least developed countries in the world, including Cambodia, which contributed to Cambodia's economic development. He also thanked the British Government for providing Covid-19 vaccines to the Royal Government and people of Cambodia, to aid in the fight against Covid-19 and assist in the reopening of economic activities.
The Minister expressed his strong belief that the ‘new normalization path’ set the Royal Government, combined with recent achievements made in the field of trade, will be a new catalyst for the strengthening of bilateral trade between Cambodia and the United Kingdom. The two sides will continue to expand cooperation to find new opportunities and potential for trade, business and investment in the future.
Regarding Cambodia's ASEAN Chairmanship, the Minister informed the British delegation of the ASEAN Economic Ministers' full support for the Priority Economic Deliverables (PEDs) Cambodia has set out under the pillars of the ASEAN Economic Community. He said that Cambodia welcomes the support of the United Kingdom, an important dialogue partner of ASEAN, to join Cambodia in the implementation of all economic priorities successfully, especially within the framework of the implementation and action plan between ASEAN and Dialogue Partners, which includes cooperation in areas such as digital commerce, promoting women's entrepreneurship, participating in small and medium enterprises, promoting sustainable agriculture, tourism, hospitality and other related services.
In response, the British Ambassador commended Minister Pan Sorasak for the progress and efforts made by the Royal Government of Cambodia through the Ministry of Commerce to promote better bilateral trade relations between the two countries, as well as the important role of Cambodia as the chair of ASEAN. She also reaffirmed the support of the United Kingdom to Cambodian in working closely together to achieve the economic priorities that Cambodia has successfully set, and to build a sustainable and resilient environment for the ASEAN community.
At the end of the meeting, both sides pledged to continue cooperating closely to promote the mutual development of both countries’ economic and trade sectors.
