CAMBODIA'S EXPORTS TO ASEAN, EU SEE MODEST GROWTH IN JANUARY

 PHNOM PENH, Feb 19 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Cambodia has recorded a modest growth of its exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) in January, said a Ministry of Commerce report on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

The report showed that the Southeast Asian country exported products worth US$480 million to its fellow ASEAN member states in January this year, up 8 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the kingdom shipped goods worth US$456.7 million to the EU market, up 4 per cent compared to the same month last year, the report added.

The ASEAN market accounted for 16 per cent and the EU market represented 15.2 per cent of the kingdom's total export volume of US$3 billion in January this year, the report said.

Cambodia’s main exports include apparel, textiles, shoes, travel goods, bags, bicycles, car tyres, and some electronic devices, as well as potential agricultural products such as milled rice, cashew nuts, cassava starch, and bananas.

Thong Mengdavid, deputy director at the China-ASEAN Studies Centre of the Cambodia University of Technology and Science, said the growth is an encouraging signal that the country is beginning to diversify beyond its traditional reliance on the United States market.

"This reflects improving regional integration, recovering European demand, and Cambodia's gradual move into more industrial and higher value-added manufacturing," he told Xinhua.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA