KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — Senior Minister and International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali made a courtesy call on Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak and discussed wide-ranging issues and opportunities towards strengthening bilateral trade relations between Putrajaya and Phnom Penh.
“We noted on the excellent trade relations commemorating the 65th anniversary of this diplomatic ties with fruitful trade volume between both countries (increasing) significantly by 16.9 per cent in 2021,” he tweeted today.
The Cambodia-Malaysia trade volume surpassed US$500 million (RM2 billion) in 2021, rising by 13.14 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y).
According to reports, the kingdom’s exports to Malaysia exceeded US$101 million last year, increasing by 2.62 per cent from more than US$98 million in 2020, while imports topped US$399 million, jumping 16.16 per cent from over US$343 million.
Mohamed Azmin, who is among the dignitaries in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s official visit to Cambodia, said: “I reiterated that Cambodia remains an important economic partner for Malaysia and we are committed in working closely with Cambodia.”
Ismail Sabri is on a two-day official visit to the country.
Besides Mohamed Azmin, the prime minister is accompanied also by Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Jalaludin Alias, Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif and other senior government officials.
“Malaysia’s presence in Cambodia is significant. Being the third largest foreign direct investment (FDI) country, it is crucial to take advantage of this strong trade bond with Cambodia and to look into ways in which these established companies in Cambodia can further assist the government (and) our trade relations,” the senior minister also tweeted.
Malaysia’s FDI in Cambodia amounted to US$3.53 billion between 1994-2020, just behind China and South Korea. Malaysia’s investments are mainly in the banking, telecommunication, power generation and entertainment sectors.
Earlier in the day, Mohamed Azmin had a meeting with representatives from Maybank Cambodia, Hong Leong, NagaCorp, Leader Group, LPGas Engineering, Khmer Times, Dragonfly Fintech, HNG Capital and Smart Axiata.
Among others, he said, he discussed with them on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership’s (RCEP) entry into force in Malaysia, including how Malaysian companies could work together with local Cambodian small and medium enterprises to reap the benefits of RCEP. — Bernama
