Core Country of Mekong Economic Zone 'Kambodia' to Strengthen ODA and Clean Energy Cooperation

Korea-Cambodia Trade Ministers' Meeting
FTA Joint Committee Agrees to Hold First Meeting in the First Half of the Year

South Korea and Cambodia, marking the third year since the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into effect in December 2022, have decided to actively explore achievements in promising areas of cooperation between the two countries, including trade and investment, infrastructure, and carbon neutrality, as well as conducting an FTA implementation review.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Jeong In-gyo, the Director-General for Trade Negotiations, visited Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the 27th and held the "Korea-Cambodia Trade Ministerial Meeting" with Acting Minister of Commerce Kem Sithan to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Jung In-gyo, Director General for Trade Negotiations, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. (File photo)

According to the Ministry, the meeting broadly discussed expanding trade and investment between the two countries, development cooperation, and joint responses to carbon neutrality. In particular, Director-General Jeong emphasized that Korea is the second largest investor in Cambodia, accounting for more than 10% of Cambodia’s total direct investment, and requested active support from the Cambodian side, such as tax benefits for Korean investing companies. They also agreed to actively promote the establishment of a Food Processing On-site Technical Assistance (TASK) Center and cooperation on greenhouse gas reduction abroad, which are currently being pursued by both countries.

The two countries held subcommittee meetings under the Korea-Cambodia FTA Joint Committee on goods trade, rules of origin and customs procedures, and economic cooperation to review the current status and achievements of trade between the two countries, discuss efficient operation methods for rules of origin and customs procedures, and economic cooperation projects. Furthermore, they agreed to hold the first meeting of the Korea-Cambodia FTA Joint Committee, the core platform for economic cooperation between the two countries, within the first half of the year, and to work together to discover achievements of the Joint Committee such as diversifying traded items, strengthening supply chain value chains, and enhancing corporate utilization of the FTA.

Director-General Jeong said, "Cambodia is a country with high growth potential, having achieved an average annual economic growth of 7% over the past 20 years based on its young human resources," and added, "Through the Korea-Cambodia FTA and other means, I hope Cambodia can emerge as Korea’s key economic cooperation partner in ASEAN."

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