In 2005, Malaysia's total trade with Cambodia expanded by 27.5 percent
to RM0.45 billion from RM0.35 billion in 2004.

-- BERNAMA

Source: http://www.bernama.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Cambodia signed an agreement on Friday to increase trade and investment flows as part of a broader American initiative in the region, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said.

Washington already has "trade and investment framework agreements" (TIFAs) with several countries in Southeast Asia. The frameworks create a bilateral forum to work on trade issues and can be a stepping stone to free trade pacts.

The United States also is negotiating an overarching trade and investment framework agreement with the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose total population is about 570 million.

"We welcome Cambodia into our family of TIFA partners in Southeast Asia," Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia said in a statement.

"We look forward to building our trade and investment relations under this dialogue, working more closely on regional and WTO issues, and helping Cambodia fully implement its WTO obligations."

U.S. exports to Cambodia increased 18 percent to nearly $70 million in the past year and have risen steadily since Cambodia joined the WTO in October 2004, USTR said.

Major U.S. exports to Cambodia include automobiles, machinery, textile articles, and fats and oils. U.S. imports from Cambodia totaled $1.7 billion in 2005, comprised largely of knit and woven apparel and prepared meat and fish.

Two-way trade between the United States and ASEAN has grown dramatically over the past decade, and in 2005 totaled $150 billion, making ASEAN the United States' fourth-largest trading partner, USTR said.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) signed a two-year agreement on June 13 on technical cooperation to strengthen the country’s trade capacity.

The US$ 565,000 agreement, signed by Industry Minister Suy Sem and UNIDO Regional Director Jean-March Deroy, will be implemented from June 2006 to 2008. Suy Sem said that the donation, provided by the Norwegian Agency for Development, will be used to create physical infrastructure to allow products to conform to standards and bolster regional and international confidence in Cambodian products. The project, in its second phase, concentrates on strengthening institutional national capacities related to standards, metrology, testing and quality by arranging and promoting 40 national standards fro local consumption and export goods.

The funds will also go to building a Cambodian industrial laboratory center and helping CamControl to test food, chemical substances and micro-biologicals. Jean-Marc Deroy said the project will also help Cambodia appy several ISO standard certificates, which will allow Cambodia to export its products to international markets.