While asking for further cooperation with Vietnam in diverse areas, An suggested the host side provide a list of major business contacts for Vietnamese counterparts to study and form networks. Mr. Suon Bovor wished that the traditional friendship and solidarity between Vietnam and Cambodia will be everlasting.
He also wished that local authorities will continue helping team K70 from the Military Command of Tay Ninh Province under the Vietnam People’s Army with the search for and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese experts and volunteer soldiers who sacrificed their lives to the war in Cambodia.
All things being equal, Deputy Minister Tu said he believes that with some concerted effort local companies have a realistic shot at increasing cross-border exports bringing total trade for 2016 to US$30 billion. He said total trade in 2015 through the border-crossings was robust, experiencing a 27% year-on-year surge, with Vietnam exports consisting primarily of products from the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.
Imports through the crossings were diverse consisting of clothing and textile raw materials and intermediary goods from China, agriculture products, consumer goods, machinery and vehicles, to name only a few of the major items.
In past years, Vietnam local companies pretty much had a lock on the Cambodian market, having the largest market share of all ASEAN countries exporting to the market, said Deputy Minister Tu.
Van Duc Muoi, CEO of Vissan Limited Company, a local food processor in Vietnam, said his company is experiencing significant competition from Chinese competitors in the Cambodian market this year.
Our growth in establishing distribution centres in the Cambodian market actually stopped advancing in mid-2015 and since then we have been exploring other avenues to increased market share, said Mr Muoi. “We’ve tried investing in manufacturing facilities in Cambodia,” said Mr Muoi, but to be honest we’re simply tapped out and don’t have the funds needed to take that avenue right now.
New import policy changes under which Cambodia tightened its import of goods have created difficulties for companies like ours as a result of high tariffs, sad Mr Dung, with foodstuffs incurring a 35% import duty.
Vietnamese exports to the market fall into one of four tariff levels (0%, 7%, 15%, 35%), and in addition are subject to a VAT of 10%, resulting in many products being priced right out of the market. As a result, local companies must find alternative avenues and wait until Cambodia complies with its ASEAN commitments to reduce tariffs to access to the Cambodian market in order to remain competitive.
