Phnom Penh: Bilateral relations between Cambodia and the United States continue to grow even though the pandemic has affected trade and lifestyles of countries around the world. The remarks were made during Thursday’s bilateral trade and investment cooperation meeting between Minister of Commerce, Pan Sorasak, and US Ambassador, W. Patrick Murphy.

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached over $4 billion in the first seven months, up more than 37% compared to the same period in 2020, despite the profound implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on international trade and the magnitude of uncertainty in every aspect of the economic system.

The Minister recalled that thanks to the US-Cambodia Trade Relations & Intellectual Property Rights Agreement signed in 1996, trade volume continues to grow. He pointed to the example of Ford Motor Cambodia’s assembly plant in Pursat province which will give Cambodian people job opportunities and technical skills transfer. He also hailed the recent opening of the first US Department of Agriculture office in Cambodia to support growing agricultural trade between the two countries. It will serve as a driving force to attract fresh inward investment into the Kingdom.

The Ambassador was updated about the progress of the vaccination campaign in Cambodia and was thanked for his country’s donation of over 1 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine via COVAX. The Ambassador pledged to continue helping Cambodia in its fight against the pandemic and expressed the US’ support for Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022.