BANGKOK: Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Thailand fell by about 15 percent in the first four months of the year, compared to the same period last year, due to the Kingdom’s decreasing imports of oil, food and beverages from its neighbor.
Jiranun Wongmongkol, Minister Counsellor (Commercial) of the Royal Thai Embassy, said at a press conference to launch the second SME Thailand Exhibition 2016 that in the first four months of this year, the trade volume between Thailand and Cambodia reached about $1.7 billion. This, she said, was a drop of about 15 percent compared to the trade volume of $2 billion in the same period last year.
In the same period this year, Thailand’s exports to Cambodia were down by about 20 percent to $1.39 billion compared to $1.73 billion in the same period last year, said Ms. Jiranun. However, she added, Thailand’s imports from Cambodia increased by 12 percent, up to about $350 million in the first four months of this year, up from about $312 million in the same period last year.
“The fall in bilateral trade volume between the two countries was due to the decrease in oil exports from Thailand to Cambodia. Also, Cambodia’s food and beverage imports from Thailand fell because it started its own food and beverage manufacturing industries to cater to a domestic market,” said Ms. Jiranun.
The senior Thai Embassy official also pointed out that Cambodia’s imports of construction materials from Thailand were also down. “Cambodia is turning to China and Vietnam, besides Thailand, to import iron and steel construction materials,” said Ms. Jiranun. Despite the fall in bilateral trade, Ms. Jiranun, however, remained optimistic. “Bilateral trade volume with Cambodia, we hope, will remain at a constant level since our government is urging all Thai traders to strengthen the quality of their products and promote new ones for Cambodia to import,” she said.
“We hope to also expand in the capital and to Cambodia’s provinces to increase the trade volume,” added Ms. Jiranun. “Thai products have gained about a 40 percent market share in Cambodia.” Te Taing Por, president of the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC), said that imports from Thailand have been falling by about seven to 10 percent a year since 2014, due to local manufacturers in the Kingdom making products for a domestic market.
