Visit of German president boosts trade with Cambodia

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife pose for photo at Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap province on Feb 14. - GERMAN EMBASSY IN PHNOM PENH

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network): German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit to Cambodia could give renewed impetus towards the consolidation of bilateral relations between the two countries as well as to the two-way goods trade, which was valued at nearly US$1.25 billion in 2022, expanding by almost one-fifth on a yearly basis, according to observers.

Steinmeier’s Feb 14-16 visit – at the invitation of Acting Head of State Say Chhum, who is also Senate president – was widely reported as the first made by a sitting German president, and comes as part of an Indo-Pacific tour to develop political and economic ties with the region, in line with Berlin’s “Zeitenwende” fundamental shift in foreign and security policy.