Cambodia and United Kingdom (UK) has pledged to
boost the bilateral trade cooperation and urged the developed country to
continue to support trade activities of the least developed countries by
offering specialized treatment in trade
system.
The pledge was made during the meeting this
week between Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce and Marc Thayre, Deputy Chief of
Mission of the British Embassy in Cambodia.
Sok Sopheak, Secretary of State of the Ministry
of Commerce, who also joined the meeting said that Cambodia supports the
multilateral system in international trade, the WTO reforms aimed at ensuring
transparency and equality among its members. He also urged the UK to continue
to support Cambodia’s trade activities.
Marc Thayre has expressed optimism about the cooperation between the
two countries, especially in the field of trade to promote economic growth,
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bilateral trade between Cambodia and the
United Kingdom reached about $1.05 billion
in 2019, of which Cambodia exported to the UK more than $978 million,
mostly bicycles and garment and footwear, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce.
Sopheak said that both sides also discussed the
UK trade policy following its departure from the European Union (Brexit) and
the progress of selection of a new Director-General of the World Trade
Organization who is also a candidate from the UK.