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UK launches new developing countries trading scheme in Kingdom

Kang Sothear / Khmer Times Share:
Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and the UK has reached $121 million for the first two months of 2023. KT/Pann Rachana

The United Kingdom on Tuesday officially launched its Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) in Cambodia, which would enable the Kingdom to improve access to the UK market, said a Ministry of Commerce (MoC) release.

DCTS was launched at a ceremony presided over by MoC’s Secretary of State Samheng Bora and Dominic Williams British Ambassador to Cambodia and attended by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, MoC and private firms at Himawari Hotel Apartments in Phnom Penh.

Bora said that the DCTS scheme would enable Cambodia to keep gaining benefits and export goods to the UK market with zero-tariff incentives, simpler procedures, more liberalised rules of origin requirements and simplify the conditions attached to the scheme and ability to participate in value chains involving materials from 95 countries.

“The trading scheme would help boost bilateral trade and increase high-quality goods that would be exported from Cambodia to UK,” said Bora, adding that Britain is still one of the key trading partners of Cambodia even though this country has exited European Union (EU).

Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and UK has reached $121 million for the first two months of 2023 after it increased 23.98 percent to $977 million in 2022 as a whole from $788 million in 2021, while the former gained the surplus from its exports of $886 million and imports of $91 million.

The main export goods that Cambodia has exported to the UK include apparel, textiles, foot wears and bicycles, while the UK has imported many types of goods such as automobiles, animal feeds and beverages, said the release. The developing countries trading scheme is a major milestone in growing free and fair trade with developing nations.

The DCTS demonstrates Britain’s commitment to building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with emerging economies that are home to more than 3.3 billion people and going beyond what is offered by the EU. “We are launching the developing countries trading scheme to harness the power of trade to help developing countries grow and prosper,” said a UK policy paper.

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