Cambodia's exports to South Korea rose by more than 100 per cent last year, according to officials at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).
Agricultural and garment exports largely accounted for the surge.
Mai Vireak/Phnom Penh Post
Containers unloaded after shipment at Phnom Penh port.
KOTRA data shows total exports were worth US$87.3 million in 2011, compared with $43.4 million the previous year.
Total imports from Korea also rose 35.4 per cent to $450.7 million, compared with $333 million a year earlier.
KOTRA director-general Kwang Ho Lee said the largest increases had been in the vehicle and automotive-parts sector.
Lee said that close ties and strong efforts between the two nations over the past few years had boosted both diplomatic and economic relationships.
“Last year, both Cambodia and Korea experienced a strengthening in their relationship, which weas especially important because it led to big increases in Cambodia's exports,” he said.
Lee said rising rubber, seafood, agricultural and garment exports last year had had significant consequences for the economy.
Cambodia had exported 30 tonnes of shrimp and crab to Korea last year, but rubber remained the Kingdom's biggest export, he said.
“We see more and more Koreans investing in Cambodia's garment manufacturing industry. In the past, most garments were exported to the US, but now that our garment sector is improving and there is more competition, new markets need to be found,” he said.
Trade exhibitions and joint trade fairs had also helped develop the import and export markets between the two countries, he said.
Nam Shik Kang, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, said Cambodia needed to diversify the products it exported to Korea.
“Cambodia should develop more good items to sell in the Korean market,” he said.
“Right now, there is little diversity in the few Cambodian items available in Korea. I strongly believe that both countries will tie up stronger economic and diplomatic relations this year.”
Cambodia's main exports to Korea are natural rubber, cotton, seafood, aluminum waste and scrap, as well as garments including jerseys, pullovers and cardigans, according to official data.
Korea's most profitable exports to Cambodia are used clothing, internal combustion engines, cylinders and cigarettes.
Local and foreign tourism in Sihanoukville province and Angkor Wat rose significantly last month, according to tourism officials.
Will Baxter/Phnom Penh Post
Tourists visit Angkor Wat in June last year.
Seng Kha, deputy director of the Tourism Department of Sinhanoukville province, said the number of local tourists to the province grew from 68,816 in January 2011 to 108,400 in January this year, an increase of 57.52 per cent.
The number of international tourists increased nearly 51 per cent from January 2011’s 15,268 figure to 23,041 people in January 2012.
He said that the first annual New Year’s sea festival held on the beaches of Sihanoukville, together with Chinese New Year’s celebrations and new air routes between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap provinces, has been expediting the new growth.
Director of the province’s International Airport Hun Chhoeun said the passengers utilising the new routes were mostly foreigners, and that flights in both directions were popular.
“Planes are full with only a few days where flights are not full,” he said.
Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Tourism Private Sector, said the more than 50 per cent increase was immense and that there were many reasons it, and the new air routes were likely a major cause.
“I think that if the airline companies make prices more affordable, the numbers would increase even more,” he said.
Officials based near Angkor Wat, by far Siem Reap’s most popular tourism site, claimed that the number of foreign tourists this January soared as well.
Tourism data for Angkor Wat Archaeological Park showed that the numbers of foreign tourists in January increased nearly 30 per cent month-on-month.
About 206,000 people visited in January this year, compared with 159,000 during the same time last year.
An official from the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap said that each year’s earlier months saw increases in tourist numbers because of the numerous festivals celebrated.
