PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Trade between Cambodia and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has seen a 19- percent growth in the first nine months of the year thanks to robust bilateral trade ties, Benjamin Chau, deputy executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said here Wednesday.
During the January-September period this year, total trade value between Cambodia and Hong Kong amounted to 762 million U.S. dollars, up 19 percent year-on-year, he said.
Of the figures, Cambodia's exports to Hong Kong were valued at 77 million dollars, representing a jump of 56 percent, while Hong Kong's exports to Cambodia were equivalent to 685 million dollars, a 16-percent rise, with garment raw materials topping the export category.
"Cambodia's development and market expansion is significant to Hong Kong. We are grateful to see a closer trade relationship between the two economies in recent years," he said during a business luncheon here, which was attended by Cambodian trade officials, business people and bankers.
"To harness the potential between the two places, we need to step up our promotional efforts to expand our bilateral trade volume," he said.
Chau is visiting Cambodia to meet with government officials and business executives to further strengthen ties between Cambodia and China's Hong Kong.
Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said Cambodia and Hong Kong still have much room to grow in economic and trade relations and urges Hong Kong to consider opening a trade representative office in Phnom Penh.
Hong Kong is Cambodia's sixth largest trading partner and is its fifth largest source of imports. Currently, some 56 Hong Kong- owned garment and footwear factories are operating in Cambodia, employing about 35,000 workers.
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Hong Kong was valued at 879 million U.S. dollars last year, a 18 percent rise year-on-year.