PHNOM PENH, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's trade volume with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries amounted to 11.26 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year rise of 18.5 percent, said an official report on Wednesday.
The country's export to the fellow RCEP member countries was valued at 2.82 billion dollars during the January-March period this year, up 4.2 percent, while its import reached 8.44 billion dollars, up 24.2 percent, said the report compiled by the Ministry of Commerce.
The report showed that the RCEP remained the major market for Cambodia, accounting for 64 percent of the kingdom's total trade volume of 17.58 billion dollars during the first quarter this year.
Cambodia's top five trading partners under the RCEP are China, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, and Thailand, the report said.
Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said RCEP, the world's largest free trade pact, has played a crucial role in boosting trade growth for Cambodia.
"RCEP is a key driving force for our long-term export growth and a magnet to attract more foreign direct investment to Cambodia," he told Xinhua.
Thong Mengdavid, deputy director at the China-ASEAN Studies Center of the Cambodia University of Technology and Science, said as one of the RCEP members, Cambodia has been experiencing steady growth in exports and imports from China and Vietnam, among others.
"Cambodia's reliance on RCEP will remain the primary cornerstone for the kingdom's primary trade engine," he told Xinhua. "However, the structure may become more import-intensive, reinforcing Cambodia's role as an assembly hub rather than a high-value producer unless industrial upgrading accelerates skills, logistics and digitalization. ■
