Phnom Penh, 16 May 2024 – Cambodia earned over USD 3.36 billion from exports to members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in the first four months of this year, marking a 16.2 percent increase from USD 2.89 billion recorded in the same period in 2023.

The figures, released by the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday, also indicate that during the same period, Cambodia imported USD 7.83 billion worth of products from RCEP countries, an increase of 13 percent from USD 6.93 billion.

Cambodian exports to RCEP countries accounted for 44.57 percent of the Kingdom’s total exports of USD 8.82 billion in the four-month period, according to the report.

The report also highlighted that Cambodia’s two-way trade with RCEP rose by 13.98 percent to USD 11.19 billion, representing 66.2 percent of the country’s total international trade of USD 16.91 billion.

Cambodia’s trade with RCEP countries has increased significantly due to the trade preferences under the mega-regional trade pact, according to Penn Sovicheat, Secretary of State and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce.

"With almost zero trade tariffs, exporters have been able to take advantage of the trade deal, resulting in increased exports and imports from Cambodia," he said.

The RCEP free trade agreement came into effect on January 1, 2022. The regional trade pact includes 15 Asia-Pacific countries, comprising the ten Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – and their five trading partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

RCEP nations collectively represent about 2.2 billion people, or 30 percent of the global population, contributing USD 26.2 trillion to the gross domestic product (GDP), which is 30 percent of the worldwide GDP. Member countries account for approximately 28 percent of global trade, according to the ministry.