The Ministry of Commerce and the British embassy in Cambodia are today co-hosting the 3rd Cambodia-UK Joint Trade and Investment Forum (JTIF) to reaffirm their commitment to strengthening economic cooperation, promoting sustainable growth and creating new opportunities for businesses in both countries.
This year’s event is themed “Progressive Partnerships in a Shifting Global Landscape: A Cambodia-UK Perspective”.
According to a joint press release, the forum is the primary bilateral platform for structured policy dialogue, market access cooperation and public-private sector engagement between Cambodia and the UK. It brings together senior officials, regulators, investors and business leaders to advance two-way trade, reduce barriers and foster long-term commercial and investment partnerships.
The forum comes at a significant moment in Cambodia’s development trajectory and ambitions, following its approaches to the anticipated graduation from the LDC status by 2029 and its recent announcement of intention to apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Both Cambodia and the UK have underscored their shared commitment to predictable, rules-based commerce as the foundation for growth and investor confidence.
The event aims to pave the way to translate opportunities into more trade and investment between the Cambodia and the UK, through regulatory cooperation, partnerships and initiatives to strengthen markets, investment and market access utilisation. The conversations aim to make actual trade and investment happen, by removing barriers and maximising the use of frameworks such as the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).
The forum also highlights concrete progress since the Second JTIF in November 2024, including strengthened coordination through dedicated policy working groups spanning key areas of interest, including export facilitation, taxation and an investment-incentivised visa regime, alongside capacity building and skills development, dialogue on capital market development and customs cooperation and deepened engagement between British and Cambodian businesses across financial services, manufacturing, agri-processing, technology, and legal and professional services.
“The JTIF has established itself as a flagship platform for advancing the bilateral trade and investment partnership between Cambodia and the UK. Anchored in practicality and momentous engagements, it has brought together key policymakers, stakeholders and the private sector to jointly address shared challenges and opportunities, laying a strong foundation for greater and more impactful commercial and investment outcomes,” said commerce minister Cham Nimul.
Rhiannon Harries, UK deputy trade commissioner for Asia Pacific (Southeast Asia), also addressed he forum.
“The UK-Cambodia Joint Trade and Investment Forum is a significant opportunity for our countries to strengthen our economic ties, address shared challenges and plan for a sustainable future. It reflects our increasing engagement with the wider Southeast Asia region, with which we share a £57 billion annual trade relationship, underscoring our commitment as ASEAN’s newest Dialogue Partner,” she noted.
“Trade and investment are a fundamental part of the relationship between the UK and Cambodia. We are both export-oriented, open economies that believe in the international rules-based trading system. We are both keen to deepen our economic partnership and deliver greater prosperity and employment to the people of both countries,” added UK ambassador Dominic Williams.
According to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), trade between Cambodia and the UK totalled $1.069 billion in 2025, an increase of 5.7% over 2024. Exports to the UK amounted to $1.015 billion, up 5.9%, while imports were $54.5 million.
