PHNOM PENH, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported products worth 15.7 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2023, a slight increase of 0.3 percent from 15.64 billion dollars in the same period last year, said a General Department of Customs and Excise's report released on Friday.
The report said the kingdom's export to China surged by 16.8 percent to 940 million dollars during the January-August period this year from 804.6 million dollars in the same period last year.
China is the third-largest export destination for the Southeast Asian country after the United States and Vietnam, the report showed.
Main items Cambodia exported included apparel, footwear, and travel goods, bicycles, and a number of agricultural goods such as rice, rubber, cassava, bananas, mangos and longans.
Commenting on a significant rise in the export to China, Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) had injected a vigorous impetus into the country's trade growth.
"The two free trade agreements are catalysts for our long-term and sustainable export growth, and they are a magnet to attract more foreign direct investments to Cambodia," he told Xinhua.
