PHNOM PENH: The Canadian Ambassador to Cambodia has met with the Cambodian Minister of Commerce and accepted his request to consider establishing a free trade agreement (FTA) between Cambodia and Canada.

During a meeting between the Minister of Commerce, Pan Sosak, and Canadian Ambassador Sarah Taylor, on Thursday, Ambassador Taylor stated that the new Canadian administration has set its economic policy towards increasing trade in the Asia-Pacific region, hence, the establishment of a Cambodia-Canada Bilateral FTA could be considered by the Canadian government based on a feasibility study.

She pledged to discuss the proposal with the relevant institutions and urge Canadian officials to work more closely with Cambodia to bring and develop specific projects under the Canadian Trade and Investments Framework (CTIF) as well as to raise technical assistance proposals from the Canadian government's CTIF project.

Minister Pan Sosak requested the Canadian side to continue providing assistance under the CTIF project, particularly technical assistance in relation to the development of SMEs, participation in exhibitions, and matching of trade and investment meetings between the two countries. Moreover, he added that he would like to request Canada to propose special concessions to Cambodia, a country with a smaller economic gap than some other ASEAN countries.

In 2021, the total worth of goods exported to Canada from Cambodia under the Free Customs and Free Quota program amounted to about US $954.82 million.