Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Cambodia haverecorded encouraging outcomes in bilateral trade since diplomatic ties were setup five decades ago, and they are on the way to turnover of five billion USD inthe near future.

Vietnam is the third biggest trade partner andthe fifth largest foreign investor in Cambodia.

In late October 2016, Vietnamese Minister ofIndustry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasaksigned an agreement on trade promotion to raise bilateral trade to five billionUSD.

Statistics show that trade soared from 184million USD in 2001 to 3.05 billion USD in 2015. It hit 2.4 billion USD fromJanuary to October last year, including nearly 1.8 billion USD of Vietnam’sexports. 

Vietnam’s main exports to Cambodia include steelproducts, fertilisers, textile-garments, machinery, spare parts and plastics.

Shortly after signing the cooperation deal, thetwo sides provided tax incentives for each other’s commodities. In particular,29 Vietnamese goods will benefit from zero-percent import tariffs when they areshipped to Cambodia, including milk and cream, cassava starch, meat and riceproducts, confectionary, paint, plastic products, paper, ceramics and steelproducts.

This is special treatment for Vietnam and betterthan Cambodia’s promised incentives for other ASEAN nations.

Meanwhile, Vietnam offered a zero-percent importtariff on 39 commodities from Cambodia, mostly agricultural products, plasticproducts, books and notebooks, fabric and bicycles. This incentive is believedto help Vietnamese businesses increase raw material supply for production.

Although Cambodia is a Southeast Asian tradepartner that has won the interest of many Vietnamese investors, its legalsystem remains inconsistent between central and local levels. That fact hasimpacted Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia.

To step up trade relations, the two countriesagreed to remove obstacles for businesses, effectively implement licensedprojects and soon ink new cooperation agreements to raise trade to five billionUSD.

Many experts said the two countries should issuesupport policies for enterprises which invest in or trade with Cambodia.Vietnam needs optimal mechanisms for import-export activities, customsprocedures, tourism and labour cooperation.

According to Vietnamese and Cambodian leaders,the countries will enhance the implementation of the agreement on investmentpromotion and protection and soon sign an agreement on double taxationavoidance and a cross-border trade agreement which will replace the existingdeal on goods and services buying, selling and exchange in border areas. Theywill also sign a labour cooperation agreement and a memorandum of understandingon transport cooperation strategy for 2017-2025.-VNA