PHNOM PENH, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia made the gross revenue of 4.3 billion U.S. dollars from the export of agricultural products in 2023, said a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) report on Monday.
The Southeast Asian country shipped almost 8.45 million tons of agricultural products to about 75 countries and regions during the January-December period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9 percent, the report said.
Key agricultural items for exports included rice, rubber, cassava, mangoes, fresh bananas, pepper, cashew nuts, longan, corn, and palm oil, among others.
China, Vietnam and Thailand are the major importers of Cambodia's agricultural items.
Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said China is a huge market for Cambodia, especially for its potential agricultural products such as milled rice, yellow bananas, mangoes, longans, and pepper, among others.
"Thanks to close relations between our two countries, I believe that the export volume of Cambodia's agricultural products to China this year will be bigger," he told Xinhua.
He is also confident that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and Cambodia's bilateral free trade agreements with China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates will give a boost to Cambodia's agricultural export growth in the long term.
Agriculture is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economic growth in addition to garment export, tourism and construction and real estate. ■
