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06 May 2022

Press Release on the Outcomes of the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar 6 May 2022

On 6 May 2022, His Excellency PRAK Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia as the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, and His Excellency Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN in the capacity as the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator (SG-AHAC), co-chaired the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in a hybrid format.

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20 April 2022

The Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM)

On the afternoon of April 20, 2022, Her Excellency EAT Sophea, Secretary of State and SOM Leader of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council, chaired the Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) to discuss various issues, including ASEAN priorities and deliverables in 2022, the preparation for the 31st ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting, the ASEAN’s key Initiatives on Covid-19 Response, ASEAN Connectivity, and Cross-Sectoral and Cross-Pillar Coordination.  The Meeting also deliberate ASEAN Partnership with Dialogue Dialogue Partners and Development Partners as well as the procedures under the ASEAN SHIELD Initiative.

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20 April 2022

the 8th Meeting of The ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies (8th ACCWG-PHE)

On the morning of 20 April 2022, H.E. EAT Sophea, Secretary of State, led the 8th Meeting of The ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies (8th ACCWG-PHE). The Meeting aims to further discuss on the implementation of the ASEAN key Initiatives on Covid-19 Response.

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05 April 2022

The Bilateral Meeting between H.E. Dr. KUNG Phoak, Secretary of State of MFA.IC with H.E. Mr. Jon LAMBE, the UK Ambassador to ASEAN, accompanied by H.E. Ms. Joelle JENNY, Director of Southeast Asia and Pacific Department , Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), and H.E. Ms. Tina REDSHAW, the UK Ambassador to Cambodia.

On the morning of 5 April 2022, H.E. KUNG Phoak, Secretary of State, and the representative of H.E. Deputy Prime Minister PRAK Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, discussed with H.E. Jon LAMBE, The United Kingdom Ambassador to ASEAN, accompanied by H.E. Joelle JENNY, Director of Southeast Asia and Pacific Department, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, and H.E. Tina REDSHAW, The United Kingdom Ambassador to Cambodia. The Meeting mainly covered the discussion of Cambodia as the Chair of ASEAN in 2022 and relevant cooperation with the UK.

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04 April 2022

The International Day for Mine Awareness and assistance in Mine Action in 2022

On 4 April 2022, Her Excellency EAT Sophea, Secretary of State, Representative of H.E. Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, delivered keynote address to commemorate the International Day for Mine Awareness and assistance in Mine Action in 2022 at Raffles Hotel, Phnom Penh. In the opening session,  H.E Ung Rachana, Under-Secretary of State, and Chair of ARMAC Steering Committee, delivered his opening remarks to showcase the 2022 International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action by acknowledging the progress ASEAN Member States, and all the partners and Friends of ARMAC have made in addressing landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). This event was organized by the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) and funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. 

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01 April 2022

ASEAN Commences Work on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision

Cambodia, as the ASEAN Chair, and Malaysia, as the Permanent Shepherd, co-chaired the first meeting of the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia on 31 March to 1 April 2022. The Meeting discussed the Work Plan for the HLTF in 2022, Rules of Procedures (RoP) of the HLTF, and core elements of the Post-2025 Vision.

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29 March 2022

Briefing Note by H.E. Deputy Prime Minister PRAK Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on the Outcomes of the First Visit of the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair 2022 to Myanmar

Briefing Note by H.E. Deputy Prime Minister PRAK Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on the Outcomes of the First Visit of the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair 2022 to Myanmar

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23 February 2022

Call for Nominations: ASEAN Prize 2022

ASEAN launched its call for nominations for ASEAN Prize 2022. The winner will be honoured with ASEAN Prize Trophy and rewarded a US$20,000 cash prize. Learn more about the eligibility, judges, and how to send your submission at: www.asean.org/asean-prize Send your nomination to: mfaic.asean@mfaic.gov.kh

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17 February 2022

His Excellency PRAK Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hosted a Welcome Dinner for ASEAN Foreign Ministers

His Excellency PRAK Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation hosted a Welcome Dinner for ASEAN Foreign Ministers, who came to Phnom Penh for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat (AMM Retreat) on 17 February 2022 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The event was a major social gathering for ASEAN foreign ministers after long disruption by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ministers and dignitaries enjoyed cultural performances as well as Khmer culinary delights.

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16 February 2022

Her Excellency EAT Sophea, Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and ASEAN SOM Leader of Cambodia, chaired the ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting

  Her Excellency EAT Sophea, Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and ASEAN SOM Leader of Cambodia, chaired the ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting in preparation for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat to be held the next day on 17 February 2022 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. H.E. EAT Sophea briefed the Meeting on priorities and deliverables for Cambodia's ASEAN chairmanship under the political-security community, economic community and socio-cultural community pillars. The meeting also touched on the preparation to launch the work to formulate post-2025 ASEAN Vision. Other topics include the follow-up to the 38th and 39th Summits, planning of activities to enhance external relations with all the 11 dialogue partners, ways and means to improve effectiveness of ASEAN in addressing regional and institutional challenges, and regional and international issues of common concern. The meeting also discussed extensively on the follow-up to the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on 24 April 2021.

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06 February 2022

Cambodia trade preferences under the RCEP Trade in Goods

This is the third article on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), part of a series of articles covering its economic, trade and investment impacts on Cambodia. This article covers the legal aspects of the Trade in Goods. The provisions on Trade in Goods and related chapters (Chapters 2 to 7) reaffirm existing rights and obligations under the relevant WTO Agreements. Pursuant to RCEP’s objective to liberalise and facilitate trade in goods, Chapter 2 contains provisions covering the parties’ market access for goods, tariff commitments and non-tariff measures. As early as 2005 ASEAN had entered into over a hundred bilateral and regional FTAs, partly in response to the failure of the WTO to push for deeper global trade liberalisation. Its motivation is to promote deeper regional economic integration through greater intra-ASEAN trade, starting with the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA). However, growth in intra-ASEAN trade has remained stagnant, accounting for only a quarter of the total global trade of the ASEAN Member States (AMS), hampered to a great extent by rising non-tariff barriers (NTBs). The other factors explaining the slow progress of intra-ASEAN trade is the diversity and different levels of development of the AMS: not only their economies are not complementary but sometimes there is even competition in certain areas, such as garments, footwear, agricultural production or light manufacturing. As to trade relations with ASEAN Dialogue Partners, the process started with the three East Asian neighbors: China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, giving birth to the coining of the word “ASEAN Plus 3”. Other Dialogue Partners joined in later, including Australia, New Zealand and India. All these FTAs have led to a confusing “noodle bowl” of free trade pacts that are all focused on the freer movement of goods and services. With RCEP, ASEAN consolidated the “noodle bowl” of FTAs and brought to closure the confusion of the rules of origin which have preoccupied exporters for the last two decades or so. For many companies, the chapter on the trade in goods will likely be the most impactful chapter of the entire RCEP Agreement. It contains key elements governing the implementation of goods-related commitments to achieve greater trade liberalisation among the Parties. It includes granting national treatment to the goods of the other parties, reduction or elimination of customs duties, duty-free temporary admission of goods, customs valuation, and goods in transit. Goods to be brought into a customs territory of each Party shall be conditionally relieved, totally or partially, from payment of import duties and taxes, if such goods: are brought into its customs territory for a specific purpose; are intended for re-exportation within a specific period; and have not undergone any change, except normal depreciation and wastage due to the use made of them. The RCEP will reduce or eliminate import tariffs on most industrial products, encompassing about 92% of all products across multiple key tariff classification codes. This will be implemented progressively over the next 20 years in accordance with each Party’s Schedule of Tariff Commitments. Some tariffs are abolished immediately upon the date of entry into force of the Agreement, while others will be eliminated gradually according to phase-out schedules stretching over as long as a 20 years period. From an economic perspective, the overall impact of RCEP could be moderate and spread over time and will not necessarily usher in major changes in the existing economic structure of ASEAN and its individual AMS. Initially, RCEP will have a relatively minor impact on trade flows in the near term for the reason that tariffs and quotas will be eliminated in only 65 per cent of goods traded within RCEP. With as many 86 per cent to 90 per cent categories of goods covered by RCEP already qualify for tariff elimination under existing ASEAN FTAs with Dialogue Partners, RCEP will improve market access but not necessarily imply large tariff reductions for all parties. It is quite clear that China, Japan and the Republic of Korea will benefit more than other parties, as RCEP mainly consolidates and updates existing FTAs between the ASEAN and its partners. The tariff reductions between these three countries are more significant, although their schedules will be introduced gradually. Given their commitments, RCEP is expected to facilitate the transformation of the regional value chain especially as these three countries and ASEAN countries have a high level of intraindustry trade, mainly in the electronics sector. For other goods like garments, textiles, toys, machinery and plastics, manufacturers looking to diversify their operations outside China can do so with RCEP’s regional rules of origin reflecting modern production processes and streamlined trade logistics arrangements  become easier. Regional cumulation rules will facilitate inputs from the most efficient and cost-effective regional source, while supporting access to preferential tariff treatment. Using regional distribution hubs, movement of goods in the region from ASEAN to China, Japan and the Republic of Korea and vice versa will be facilitated. For its part Cambodia has received good trade preferences for their products. Agricultural products include cashew nuts, maize, coconut, fresh mango, banana, sweet potato, honey, turmeric powder, orange, papaya, passion fruit,​ garlic, guava, dragon fruit, durian, etc. For processed agricultural goods are included noodles, cakes, bird’s nests, fish processing goods, cassava flour, coconut processing goods, peanut oil, sausage, chili sauce, banana jam, mango jam, durian jam, package noodles, etc. As for industrial goods, they include: bicycles, garments, footwear, electronic components, electrical cables, furniture, white sugar, cane sugar, handbags, suitcases, electrical wires, sports equipment, processed resin, medicine shell, liquid natural rubber, rubber in panel form, latex rubber, bedding, processed woodchips, etc. In short, even if incremental direct trade benefits under RCEP are minimal, when combined with expansion of investments, the advantageous rules of origin and ASEAN trade links, its economic impact is not as subdued as some analysts would have predicted.

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06 February 2022

What Cambodia can expect from RCEP E-Commerce?

This is the second article on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), part of a series of articles covering its economic, trade and investment impacts on Cambodia published in Khmer Times. This article covers the interesting topic of e-commerce international regulations. It is interesting to note that since the dot-com boom of the 1990s, lax domestic and global regulation has allowed technology companies to enjoy unfettered freedom to exploit e-commerce and digital services. The exponential rise of digital services led to an increasing concentration of power in the hands of a few major platforms. Unfortunately, digital transformation in developing countries lags dramatically behind, and Cambodia is no exception. They remain largely excluded from technological breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced robotics, big data analytics, and cloud computing. When Cambodia takes on its ASEAN chairmanship in January of next year and the RCEP enters into force, e-commerce will be governed by a new set of rules. This article will attempt to highlight its most important features, which will become a solid building block for advancing further e-commerce trade liberalisation in the Asia-Pacific. Chapter 12 of the RCEP calls for a framework for future liberalisation in e-commerce. It introduces specific rules on e-commerce that will modernise the trading relationship among the Member States. It covers various topics that are usually standard e-commerce provisions similarly found in other ASEAN Plus One FTAs. To help facilitate cross-border trade, RCEP contains a soft ‘endeavour’ obligation to promote the use of, and accept, paperless trading. A legal signature cannot be rejected, for lack of legal validity, solely because it is in electronic form. RCEP requires Cambodia to have consumer protection laws for e-commerce consumers against fraudulent and misleading commercial activities and outlines how remedies may be pursued and how businesses may comply with these regulations. Such legal framework must ensure the protection of online personal information of e-commerce users while measures to tackle the issue of unsolicited commercial electronic messages (UCE) or ‘spam’ messages, i.e. direct marketing, promotional emails sent to consumer without their prior request, are also envisaged in the agreement. The ability to regulate UCE messages will provide consumers with options to enable opt-outs and other consent-based requirements, as well as measures to enable recourse against non-complying suppliers. The RCEP commits Cambodia to maintain a domestic regulatory framework governing electronic transactions to ‘takes into account’ of, or that are consistent with, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce 1996, the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, or other applicable international conventions and model laws relating to electronic commerce. For that matter, Cambodia e-commerce law is already fully compliant. RCEP allows Cambodia to impose whatever national regulatory restrictions it wishes, i.e. inconsistent measures, to achieve a ‘legitimate public policy objective’ as long as they are applied in a non-discriminatory way, equally applied to domestic and foreign businesses. For customs duties, RCEP commits to maintain its current practise of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions, subject to any further WTO Ministerial decisions on customs duties on electronic transmissions. Currently, as part of the WTO Ministerial Decision, digital products such as e-books or films are not charged with customs duties. The moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions is not made permanent and is expressly maintained in accordance with the WTO Ministerial Conference decisions related to the WTO Work Programme on Electronic Commerce. Adjustments to this RCEP provision are tied expressly to further ministerial decisions on the Work Programme. However, it does not preclude a Member State from imposing taxes, fees, or other charges on electronic transmissions, provided that they are imposed in a manner consistent with the RCEP Agreement. On the location of computing facilities, RCEP includes provisions that constrain Member States from imposing data localisation requirements on businesses so as to provide for a more conducive digital trade environment with the free flow of data across borders. By limiting the scope for government to impose these restrictions, i.e. not forcing businesses to build data storage centres or use local facilities as servers within each country that they seek to trade with, RCEP can reduce the cost and complexity of doing business in Cambodia. On cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, RCEP includes commitments to ensure that parties do not prevent business data and information from being transferred across borders where such activity is for the conduct of their business. These commitments, which do not apply to the financial services sector, include exceptions for measures implemented for national security or other public policy reasons. Cross-border transfer should only be prevented in case where it is “necessary to achieve a public policy objective” or “necessary, in the country’s opinion, for the protection of its essential security interests or national interests”. What can Cambodia expect from this regional development? Quite certainly, the RCEP is set to be a major catalyst for a post-pandemic recovery across Asia. The significance of digital marketplace is expected to spur continued economic growth following the pandemic as increasing numbers of people go online. Many digital providers have expanded their footprint in the region, including many of the world’s largest super apps, online or mobile platforms like Russia’s Telegram, the US’ WhatsApp, China’s WeChat and Alipay, Japan’s Line, and Singapore’s Grab. To that effect, e-commerce in Cambodia is also growing rapidly, along with the growth of its ICT infrastructure. Obviously, the global digital trade agenda is complex and encompasses far-reaching provisions on the cross-border delivery of services affecting data protection and consumer privacy, cybersecurity, and new Internet-related IP rights. If well managed, digital industrialisation and innovation have the potential in expanding the reach of businesses. But for such potentials to be fully materialized, Cambodia needs to tackle sensitive issues like data governance, cross-border data flows, data collection and storage, privacy and cyber security.