Vietnam and Cambodia have signed an agreement on promoting bilateral trade, in which they reserve preferential treatment to each other with an aim to further expand trade relations between the two countries.

At the signing ceremony (Photo: VGP)

The agreement was signed on October 26^th by Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak on the sidelines of the 8th Summit of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV 8) and the 7th Summit of Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS 7).

Under the agreement, the enterprises of each country will have greater opportunity for gaining access to each other’s market. In particular, preferential treatment that Cambodia gives to Vietnam is special treatment higher than that for other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which will facilitate Vietnamese goods’ higher competitiveness compared to the others’ on the Cambodian market.

The agreement allows 29 kinds of Vietnamese goods to enjoy zero import tax in the Cambodian market, including milk and cream, cassava starch, meat products, products made from rice, candy, paint, plastic products, paper, pottery, iron and steel and products made from iron and steel. Meanwhile, 39 kinds of Cambodian goods enjoying zero tax when imported into the Vietnamese market include meat, fresh by-products, lemon, rice, cake, leaves to produce tobacco (with quota), plastic products, books and notebooks, clothing and bicycles.

The agreement is expected to further promote Vietnam – Cambodia bilateral trade, including trade in agricultural, fishery and industrial products, with an aim to improve the lives of people, especially those living in border areas, and contribute to sustainable economic development in each country under the principle of equality and mutual benefit.

The signing of the agreement helps to carry out the Vietnam – Cambodian joint declaration during Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang’s visit to Cambodia in June, striving to increase the two-way trade turnover to USD5 billion in the years to come./.

( Compiled by VNF )