HANOI: Trade between Vietnam and Cambodia continues to grow, remaining a bright spot and a key pillar of bilateral cooperation as the two countries aim to raise two-way trade to US$20 billion in the coming years.
After setting a record of more than $11.3 billion last year, bilateral trade reached about $8.7 billion in the first eight months of this year, up 8.3 per cent year on year. Việt Nam is currently Cambodia’s third-largest trading partner, its second-largest source of imports and second-largest export market.
Vietnam has 223 investment projects in Cambodia, with total registered capital of nearly $3.4 billion. These projects have generated jobs for tens of thousands of workers, contributed to the Cambodian budget and supported local social welfare programmes.
Vietnamese Customs data shows that Vietnam exported $4.3 billion worth of goods to Cambodia during the period, up 13.8 per cent, while imports from the neighbouring country totalled $4.4 billion, an increase of 3.4 per cent.
Vietnam’s major exports include textiles and garments, steel, textile and footwear materials, fertilisers, animal feed and ingredients, paper and paper products, plastics, chemicals, and machinery and equipment. Imports from Cambodia are concentrated in 14 major product groups, notably cashew nuts, rubber and textile and footwear materials.
The two economies have complementary strengths. Cambodia has advantages in agricultural production, raw materials and certain industrial products, while Vietnam supplies goods for both production and consumption.
Cambodia’s exports to Vietnam include rice, rubber, cassava, cashew nuts, timber, fruit and vegetables. This complementarity provides a foundation for moving beyond cross-border trade towards deeper processing, higher value addition and participation in shared supply chains.
However, achieving the $20 billion target will require both countries to address policy and institutional barriers, improve the business environment and establish new mechanisms to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation.
Experts point to several potential growth drivers, including deeper processing of agricultural products, expanded industrial and supporting-industry cooperation, and more effective use of Asean markets and trade agreements. Combining Cambodia’s agricultural resources with Vietnam’s processing capacity, technology, capital, and distribution networks could generate greater value than exports of raw materials alone.
Logistics and transport connectivity will also be crucial. The opening of the Meun Chey-Tan Nam international border gate in late 2025 and the Khanh Bình-Chrey Thom international border gate on Oct 3 this year, is expected to facilitate trade and strengthen links between Cambodia’s Prey Veng and Vietnam’s Tay Ninh Province, as well as between Vietnam’s An Giang Province and Cambodia’s Kandal Province.
In the long run, linking the HCM City-Moc Bai-Phnom Penh routes to mutual expressway networks will cut transport times, lower logistics costs, and boost the growth of logistics hubs, industrial parks, and services along the economic corridors.
With their geographic proximity, complementary production structures and established bilateral ties, Vietnam and Cambodia have an opportunity to build a more closely integrated Mekong economic space. Reaching $20 billion in trade would represent not only higher turnover but also more substantive cooperation, greater value addition and stronger cross-border supply chains. - Vietnam News/ANN
