Cambodia's garment exports to South Korea negligible; FTA may boost

Cambodia exported $111.35 million worth of merchandise to South Korea in January-June this year which was 22 per cent higher on half year-on-year basis, according to data from Cambodia’s General Department of Customs and Excise. Bilateral trade volume increased by 13.6 per cent to $421.33 million during the six-month period.

Cambodia has already completed internal procedures for FTA, and once South Korea also completes the procedure, a notification will be issued, post which, the agreement will come into force in 60 days.

Under the FTA, South Korea agreed to remove tariffs on 95.6 per cent of products imported from Cambodia, while Cambodia will eliminate duties on 93.8 per cent of imported goods. Cambodia imported goods worth over $600 million from South Korea in 2021 while its exports to the East Asian nation reached $341 million.

According to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro, Cambodia’s export of apparel to South Korea could not recover from the dent of COVID-19. It had exported apparel worth $167.151 million in 2021, which was less than export of $187.650 million in 2019. The shipment had fallen to $169.716 million in 2020. Apparel export was valued at $79.228 million in first five months of this year.

Cambodia’s apparel export to South Korea was 1.51 per cent ($167.151 million) in 2021, out of its total apparel export of $11.099 billion. Cambodia’s share was also negligible in South Korea’s import of apparel during last year. The north-eastern country had imported 1.60 per cent apparel from Cambodia, out of its total import of $10.467 billion, as per TexPro. China, Italy, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar were the top five suppliers for South Korea in 2021.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)