Workers slice ripe mangoes at the Zhong Bao (Cambodia) Food Science & Technology Co., Ltd. in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia on March 7, 2023. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

 
Cambodia highly appreciated the current development of economic and trade cooperation with China, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.

Pornmoniroth, who is also the minister of economy and finance, said many infrastructure projects, technology transfer, and investments in Cambodia, which are a crucial source of economic growth, have been promoted under the Cambodia-China financial cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.

The trade volume between the two countries is increasing yearly, even with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. "It is believed to increase further in upcoming years."

Cambodia can export agricultural products to China directly, including bananas, mango, and longan, just to name a few, he added.

Besides, the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which took effect in 2022, demonstrate the commitment of participating countries to safeguarding the multilateral trading system, maintaining economic openness, and upholding a spirit of cooperation, which will, in turn, enhance socio-economic development.

"Undoubtedly, the two agreements will largely contribute to Cambodia's graduation from its status as a least-developed country in the next five years and an achievement of Cambodia's vision to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050," Pornmoniroth said.

He added that the bilateral economic and trade cooperation reached another significant level during the official visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to China, resulting in the signing of a crucial document, namely, the action plan on building a Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era (2024-2028).

Also, he said both countries agreed to enhance trade facilitation to promote high-quality development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, including making full use of the CCFTA and RCEP, promoting e-commerce cooperation, China International Import Expo, China Import and Export Fair, China-ASEAN Expo, China International Consumer Products Expo, and China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair, among others.

Pornmoniroth said the signed action plan emphasizes the key priority areas of cooperation, such as politics, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security, and people-to-people exchanges, called the Cambodia-China Diamond Hexagon cooperation framework.

He added that the action plan clearly reflects the two countries' commitment to deepening the building of a high quality, high level, and high standard Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era.