Cambodia and the European Union (EU) have agreed and been committed to continue their good dialogue and close cooperation in the spirit of helping, complementing and respecting each other.
The commitment was made between H.E. Pan Sorasak, Cambodian Minister of Commerce, and H.E. Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission Executive Vice President and Commissioner for Trade, in Brussels, Belgium on Dec. 13.
On the occasion, H.E. Pan Sorasak mentioned about Cambodia’s economic recovery situation with the resumption of full socio-economic activities along with restoration efforts through the implementation of Strategic Framework and Programmes for Economic Recovery in the Context of Living with the COVID-19 in a New Normal 2021-2023 which focuses on many priority sectors in response to trade and investment development, cooperation and towards graduation from the least developed country (LDC) status.
The minister took the opportunity to thank the EU and European people for their support, both financial and technical, for the development of Cambodia’s key sectors such as trade, agriculture, health, rural development, human resource training, and so on.
For his part, H.E. Valdis Dombrovskis noticed the progress in bilateral trade cooperation between Cambodia and EU in spite of challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The executive vice president acknowledged difficulties to be faced by Cambodia after graduation from the LDC category, and reaffirmed the EU’s continued support for LDCs that are going to graduate from the LDC status, including Cambodia, through the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) in the future.
The EU also pledged to continue providing Cambodia with technical assistance and capacity building programme to help develop sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy of the Kingdom.
For regional trade cooperation, the EU side recalled its support for Cambodia’s hosting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting, and laid stress on the draft Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership (2023-2027), and the ASEAN-EU Consultation, a roadmap for ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press