Six firms wanted for food, beverage fair

CAMBODIAN businessmen, producers and other players in the food and beverage industry may soon have the opportunity to find potential business partners and discover new regional brands at the upcoming ASEAN Trade Fair 2021 in Seoul, South Korea.

The Ministry of Commerce, an event facilitator, issued a broad invitation to the four-day trade fair, from November 10-13, organised by the ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) in collaboration with the embassies of the bloc’s member states based in Seoul.

It noted that the AKC was looking for six Cambodian businesses in the industry to exhibit their products at the trade fair, listing coffee, tea and desserts as examples.

Held in conjunction with the Seoul International Cafe Show, the event will be “the largest international fair [for the] food and beverages industry in Asia”, it said.

The ministry invited interested parties to register with the Department of Exhibition Affairs under its General Directorate of Trade Promotion, free-of-charge, no later than September 3.

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and South Korea has been more resilient that anticipated in light of the Covid-19

pandemic, valued at $451.98 million in the first half of this year, surging by 6.7 per cent year-on-year from $423.51 million, as shown by data from the Korea International Trade Association (Kita).

In the January-June period, the Kingdom exported $159.40 million, down by 1.6 per cent year-on-year from $162.06 million, and imported $292.59 million, up by 11.9 per cent from $261.45 million a year earlier, according to Kita. This means that the trade deficit widened by 34.0 per cent from $99.4 million to $133.2 million.

Cambodia mainly exported footwear and other apparel, travel products, beverages, electrical and electronic components, rubber, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products to South Korea, and imported vehicles, electronics, kitchen appliances, beverages, pharmaceuticals and finished plastics and products, Kita reported.

And on February 3, the two countries concluded talks for a bilateral free trade agreement, which Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak and his Korean counterpart Yoo Myung-hee plan to sign later this year, setting zero tariffs for a broad range of goods, with the aim to further enhance bilateral trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation.