Cambodia sees $1.48bn trade deficit in 9 months

Cambodia has seen a trade deficit of 1.48 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2013, according to the Commerce Ministry's data on Friday. The total import and export volume was valued at 11.82 billion U.S. dollars during the January-September period this year, up 20 percent from the 9.88 billion U.S. dollars over the same period last year, the data said. Export rose by 28 percent to 5.17 billion U.S. dollars, while import went up by 16 percent to 6.65 billion U.S. dollars, leading the trade deficit of 1.48 billion U.S. dollars. The country's main trading partners are the United States, European countries, China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. Cambodia exports mainly garments and shoes, dry rubber, milled rice and cassava as it ships in garment raw materials, petroleum, construction materials, automobiles and motorcycles, and pharmaceutical products and cosmetics. The Southeast Asian nation's economy is supported by garment exports, tourism, agriculture and construction. Garment sector accounted for more than 80 percent of the country's total exports.