ALMOST 80 per cent of Cambodia's agriculture exports worth US$5 billion last year were bought by Vietnam.
Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Vietnam also bought almost all of the country's cashew nut, pepper and mung bean exports.
Citing a report from the ministry, the Vn Express said Cambodian exports of cashew nuts to Vietnam grew 4.6 times from 2020, while pepper and mung bean exports surged four times.
Other produce that Vietnam bought in large amount from Cambodia were rice, grapefruit, bananas and mangoes.
Cambodian Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhom told Vietnam's President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during the latter's recent visit that Vietnam was Cambodia's biggest importer among 70 countries and territories last year.
He said Vietnamese companies in the country have also harvested about US$200 million worth of latex in the first 11 months of last year.
"Rubber farming has created jobs for around 33,000 locals. Vietnamese companies also contributed to over 50 per cent of Cambodia's banana exports, creating jobs for around 14,000 workers."
Industry officials said the surge in Cambodia's exports of agriculture produce to Vietnam came as many Vietnamese companies have invested into Cambodian farming.
Among the reasons attributed for this is Cambodia's affordable land cost as well as lower labour costs.
Vietnam Customs said that for the first 11 months of last year, trade value between Vietnam and Cambodia rose 84 per cent year-on-year to US$8.6 billion.
Cambodia's exports to Vietnam rose 337 per cent in the period.
Meanwhile in another development, Chinese companies have asked several Vietnamese exporters to temporarily not send agriculture shipments by sea.
Sweet potato producer Nhat Thanh told the Vn Express that its Chinese partner told them that the import was suspended due to many unavoidable reasons.
The company has a contract to export 50 containers of Thai jackfruit and sweet potatoes every month to China.
The reason being cited was that the Chinese government had tightened import procedures starting from this year.
Chinese ports were also congested because of the slow pace of clearance under the country's Covid-19 prevention policies.
According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, export activities by sea to China has been very slow the past week.
Many orders are still on the sea and have not yet arrived at the port and there a risk of loss if the port is congested, the association said.
"The Chinese side has reported that they can only check about five vegetables and fruits containers from Vietnam every day due to strict Covid-19 inspection regulations.
"Many partners have informed Vietnamese businesses to limit exports by sea," said Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association.
It was also reported that starting next week, China's seaport staff will start taking early Lunar New Year breaks and it will make customs clearance even more difficult.
Nguyen said strict quarantine regulations for ship crews caused transshipment operators at ports in southern China to suspend services for at least six weeks during the Lunar New Year holiday.
He recommended that Vietnam's agricultural products should limit export shipments during this time.
China has also tightened checks on imported goods and their transport, leading to congestion of Vietnamese container trucks at land border gates over the past month.
China is one of Vietnam's top trading partners with the agro-forestry-fishery trade between them growing strongly from US$8 billion in 2015 to US$11 billion last year.
China was also Vietnam's second-largest export market for agricultural, forestry and fishery products behind the United States, posting an export turnover of US$8.4 billion in the first 11 months of last year.
It accounts for 19.2 per cent of Vietnam's total agricultural exports.