PHNOM PENH: Cambodia and South Korea have signed a new Free Trade Agreement. The document was signed via videoconference on Tuesday morning by the Ministers of Commerce of the two countries. The Royal Government expects that the FTA will help draw more investment and investors into the Kingdom.

Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak met online with his Republic of Korea counterpart, Yeo Han-Koo. They came together to sign the Cambodian-Korean Free Trade Agreement, which has been in the pipeline for months. A draft document was finally concluded back in February.

Now that the agreement has been signed, it needs to be ratified by the National Assemblies and Senates of both nations, and in Cambodia’s case, signed by His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni. When each country informs the other that the necessary ratifications have been concluded, the CKFTA will come into effect 60 days later.

Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak believes the CKFTA will open a wider market for Cambodian products. According to the Korean International Trade Organization, bilateral trade between Cambodia and South Korea was valued at $885 million in 2020, up 18% on the year before. Over just the first eight months of this year, that trade volume had topped more than $514 million.

This is the second free trade agreement Cambodia has recently signed. On 9 September, the National Assembly ratified the Cambodia-China FTA.