Vietnam and Cambodia set a goal of raising bilateral trade to $20 billion, with a focus on removing trade barriers and developing production links.
At the Vietnam - Cambodia Business Forum 2026 in Phnom Penh on the afternoon of October 9, Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said the two countries should use their complementary strengths to expand trade and investment.
Bilateral trade reached nearly $8.7 billion in the first eight months of the year. Vietnam is currently Cambodia's largest trading partner in ASEAN and its third-largest worldwide.
Investment between the two countries remains uneven. Vietnam has 223 projects in Cambodia with total capital of about $3.4 billion, while Cambodia has only 50 projects in Vietnam with nearly $82 million in capital.
Le Minh Hung said the two countries have opportunities to grow trade together. Cambodia has land, agricultural raw materials and a young workforce. Vietnam has processing capacity, ports and logistics infrastructure, as well as experience working with a network of more than 60 free-trade-agreement partners.
Instead of mainly exchanging raw materials and goods, the countries need to cooperate on production zones, processing, quality standards and traceability. The prime minister called on Vietnamese companies to invest more deeply in production in Cambodia to increase product value and strengthen participation in supply chains.
The two countries also need better road, rail and inland-waterway links. The projects discussed included the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai - Bavet - Phnom Penh expressway corridor. The sides will also study a single-window customs mechanism.
Hun Manet said transport connectivity is only the first step. The next task, he said, is to turn the routes into economic and production corridors linking factories, industrial and economic zones, logistics service providers and markets.
The Cambodian prime minister said the $20 billion bilateral trade target was achievable and that the figure could be higher. He called for stronger cooperation, a shift from simply increasing trade volumes to improving quality, deeper processing and more value creation in supply chains.
Businesses at the forum raised problems involving taxes, land, customs procedures, transport, payments and delayed projects. Le Minh Hung instructed ministries to handle issues within their authority and work with Cambodia to remove bilateral obstacles. Vietnam's Ministry of Finance and the Council for the Development of Cambodia will prepare a list of problems, assign responsible agencies and set deadlines.
The two countries were also urged to expand cooperation in digital transformation, e-commerce, renewable energy and tourism, and to promote settlements in national currencies and cross-border QR payments. More than one million Vietnamese visitors travelled to Cambodia in 2025. Hun Manet proposed linking tourism products and attracting more visitors from third-country markets.
The two prime ministers also witnessed the signing of five cooperation documents between the countries. They included two amended certificates of overseas investment registration for Thaco Agri projects in crop production and livestock farming in Kratie and Ratanakiri provinces. The total investment was $648 million.
Thi Ha
Sources: VnExpress
