1. The Republic of Korea and Cambodia held the second meeting of their Joint Economic Committee in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on February 8. The two sides took note of the accomplishments that had been attained in various areas of economic cooperation, including trade, investment, infrastructure, finance and development cooperation, over the past 20 years since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and discussed ways to step up cooperation.

o The ROK side explained the New Southern Policy, the ROK government’s policy to strengthen its diplomacy toward ASEAN, and expressed the ROK’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with ASEAN and Cambodia, focusing on the four key areas of cooperation for connectivity (transportation, energy, water resources, and smart city), specified in the vision to establish an ROK-ASEAN community in the future, which was announced at the ASEAN summit in November last year in Manila, the Philippines.

※ The ROK and Cambodian delegations were led by Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon and Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia and Minister attached to the Prime Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, respectively.

2. In the second Joint Economic Committee meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress in implementing follow-up measures regarding major issues in economic cooperation between the two countries, discussed in the first Joint Economic Committee meeting in June 2016. They also engaged in detailed discussions on ways to increase trade and investment between the two countries; to conduct programs supporting Cambodia’s industrial capacity-building for co-prosperity; and to work together in the four key areas of cooperation for connectivity, including transportation infrastructure construction, urban development projects, water resources development and the generation of electricity.

3. The Cambodian side spoke highly of a lot of activities carried out in the area of development cooperation by the ROK, which is playing an important role in Cambodia’s social and economic development. The Cambodian side also said that the ROK’s ODA to Cambodia is contributing to improving Cambodia’s investment environment, and asked the ROK to continue to provide ODA to Cambodia and increase investments in the country.

o The ROK side expressed its commitment to strengthening cooperation with Cambodia, the ROK’s key cooperation partner in the area of development cooperation, and talked about its plans to expand cooperation in other areas, including finance and e-government. The ROK side also stressed that in order for the ROK to increase its investments in Cambodia, it needs to come first to resolve problems related to investments faced by Korean companies and government-owned financial enterprises in Cambodia as soon as possible, and to sign an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.

o Minister Sok took note that the economic relations between the two countries have made remarkable progress in a range of areas, including trade, investment and development cooperation, since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, and said that Cambodia will make active efforts to resolve difficulties facing Korean companies in the country.

- In addition, the Minister asked the ROK side to facilitate Korean companies’ investments in Cambodia, permit mango imports from Cambodia, and expand labor cooperation by raising the upper limit on the number of employment permits for Cambodians in the manufacturing sector in order to step up economic cooperation between the two countries.

4. The second Joint Economic Committee meeting served as an opportunity to take note of the economic relations between the two countries which have made remarkable progress over the past 20 years since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations; to explore ways to further advance the bilateral economic relations; and to express to Cambodia, the country coordinator for ROK-ASEAN dialogue relations, the ROK’s commitment to strengthening economic diplomacy towards ASEAN in line with its New Southern Policy, and ask for the Cambodian side’s cooperation.

* unofficial translation