PHNOM PENH: The Cambodian delegation led by the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Sok Sopheak, High Representative of the Minister of Commerce,Mr. Pan Sosak have met with the senior advisor Mr. Stephen Fevrier and the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Benin to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva . Mr. Eloi Laourou, and the seventh Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the meeting, the Secretary of State has briefed on the progress made by Cambodia during Cambodia's accession to the WTO since 2004 and Cambodia's future goals, especially Cambodia's readiness to leave from less developed countries.

In this regard, the Cambodian representative has requested the World Trade Organization to support a comprehensive study of Cambodia's exit strategy from the least developed countries. With this proposal, the Secretary of State also mentioned the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022 and invited the WTO to explore the possibility of establishing a program to promote the activities of WTO in Cambodia during this period.

In response, the two senior advisers have praised Cambodia's efforts as a member of the World Trade Organization. The WTO will look into the possibility of engaging with Cambodia in events and encourage Cambodia to actively participate in WTO work to take full advantage of the multilateral trading system.