Among the total, Vietnam’s export turnover to the market was $2.77 billion, rising 26.1% against the previous year. Vietnamese key export goods to Cambodia included steel and iron products ($521 million, up 69.7% year-on-year) and oil and petrol ($375 million, up 30% year-on-year).
Major export products of Vietnam to Cambodia include garment
|
As Vietnam and Cambodia share a 1,137 kilometer-long border which runs along 10 provinces of Vietnam and 9 provinces of Cambodia, under a joint statement, the two sides committed to continually consolidate and promote the bilateral relations under the motto "good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive co-operation, long-lasting stability".
The two countries also agreed to enhance the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and bring the bilateral trade to US$5 billion. Vietnam is currently the third largest trade partner and the fifth biggest foreign investors in Cambodia.
In recent years, the economic cooperation between the two nations has seen strong developments. Statistics showed that the two-way trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia reached only $184 million in 2001 but jumped to touch $3 billion in 2016.
Major export products of Vietnam to Cambodia included steel, fertilizers, garment, machinery and plastics products.
According to the Asia-Pacific Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade across border of the two nations has been easier, contributing to make Cambodia the 16th largest export market of Vietnam.
The two countries also provide incentives in import taxes for several products.
Specifically, Cambodia will impose a zero import tax rate for 29 products of Vietnam, including milk and ice-cream, meet, confectionery, plastics, paper, steel, ceramics products.
Thirty nine products of Cambodia enjoy a zero tax when imported to Vietnam, such as agricultural products, raw tobacco (with quota), textile, plastics products, notebooks and bicycles.
Regarding investment, Vietnam is among the top five investors in Cambodia with nearly 190 projects, worth $2.85 billion in total registered capital. Cambodia ranks second among 68 countries which received Vietnamese overseas investments.
Vietnamese investments in Cambodia focus on agriculture and forestry sector, according to 54 per cent of the total investment, energy (27.05 per cent), financial and insurance sector (8.7 per cent) and telecommunications (5.1 per cent).
The two countries have also agreed to promote cooperation in education with focus on improving training quality and in trade and investment.
The two nations will proactively support firms in overcoming difficulties to implement existing projects with efficiency while promoting the signings of new agreements to bring the bilateral trade to $5 billion soon.
Experts said that the two countries needed to raise appropriate policies to foster capital flows and create favorable mechanism for importing and exporting as well as simplifying customs procedures to facilitate trade.
The two countries expect to sign agreements on avoidance of double taxation, border trade and labor cooperation early together with a memorandum of understanding about transport cooperation strategy in 2017-2025 with a vision to 2030, which will help leverage the trade relation between the two sides to a high level.
