India and Cambodia discussed further collaboration on digital payments, investment opportunities and tourism in the first physical meeting of the India-Cambodia Joint Working Group on Trade & Investment (JWGTI) held in Delhi, the Union commerce ministry said on June 20.
The delegation from both countries discussed the progress of collaboration on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for promoting trade and tourism.
The moves follows the decision of National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the NPCI International Payment Limited (NIPL) signing a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility and prospects of enabling cross border payment and remittance between India and Cambodia via UPI” last year in March.
The countries have had an MoU on tourism cooperation since 2015.
“The meeting deliberated on cooperation in traditional medicine and e-governance, diversification of the trade basket by identifying new products, Bilateral Investment Treaty, recognition of Indian Pharmacopoeia and collaboration in the pharma Sector,” the ministry noted in a press statement.
Cambodia was one of the first countries to receive Covishield vaccines from India under Quad Vaccine Initiative.
“The Cambodian side elaborated on the numerous investment opportunities that Cambodia presents for Indian businesses. These opportunities span over various sectors with high growth potential,” the ministry stated.
India and Cambodia had a bilateral trade of $403.8 million ion FY24, 2.9-times higher compared with FY17. The trade between the countries has grown 10.2 percent in FY24 compared with the previous year, on account of a 50 percent jump in imports from Cambodia.
The major imports from Cambodia include electrical machinery and articles of clothing, which accounted for nearly 80 percent of India’s $218 million imports in FY24.
This is the second round of discussion between the two countries, the first round was held virtually in July 2022.
In 2021 both sides had agreed to the Terms of Reference on setting up a JWGTI.
Cambodia is a member of The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which India did not join.
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