Nearly 10 Vietnamese businesses andaround 140 foreign and Cambodian companies are showcasing theirproducts at a Cambodian import export goods fair in Phnom Penh.

On display at the fair– the fourth of its kind in Cambodia– aretextiles and apparels, pharmaceuticals, farm and handicraft products,consumer goods, jewellery, finance and banking, tourism and educationservices.

Speaking at the opening of the four-day fair that lasts until Dec. 18was Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh who emphasised that theCambodian Government considers trade as a top priority in its effortsto get out of the current economic crisis.

This year’s fair is an important event to introduce products, exchangeinformation between manufacturers and consumers, and seek markets forlocal products, Cham Prasidh said.

Encouraging domestic consumption and promoting foreign investment inproduction have become pressing issues for the Cambodian Government, hesaid.

Trade values between Cambodian and its neighbouring countries are on the decrease.

According to statistics of the Vietnamese Trade Commission in Cambodia, two-way trade between Vietnam and Cambodia reached only 1.05 billionUSD by the end of October 2009, a year-on-year drop of 28 percent, withVietnam ’s exports to Cambodia valued at 907 million USD.

It is estimated that the figure will continue to fall in the fourthquarter of the year with Vietnam’s exports to Cambodia decreasing by 16percent and its imports from Cambodia by 7 percent.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce said that two-way tradebetween Cambodia and Thailand fell by 27 percent in the first 10 monthsof the year./.