Electrical machinery sales close to double as tech exports surge

According to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), in the first nine months of 2023, Cambodia's exports of electrical machinery, equipment, and related products exceeded $2.4 billion, nearly doubling in value from the same time the previous year.

Under Harmonized System (HS) Code 85, the exports achieved a value of $2.476 billion from January to September 2023, a 93.5% increase over the $1.28 billion registered in the same period in 2022.

This is 14.6% of Cambodia's overall export earnings for the same time, which came to almost $17 billion. Merely 7.5% of the entire exports in 2022, totaling over $17 billion, came from this sector.

Economist Hong Vanak of the Royal Academy of Cambodia's International Relations Institute stated on November 6 that the nation has become a diverse production hub for the global market as a result of its strategic efforts to attract both foreign and local investors and its steady development.

The speaker emphasized that the increase in electrical exports is indicative of both the capacity of the workforce and the attraction of major firms to develop factories and production facilities in the nation.

According to him, "the construction of factories in Cambodia that can produce machinery and components is a significant draw for large companies, who may prefer to manufacture or assemble products locally to avoid the shipping costs incurred from overseas assembly."

He pointed out that the industries connected to these products might make more money than the labor-intensive ones.

He cited a number of reasons for the rise in these products' exports, including the nation's political stability, advantageous location, cheap and abundant labor, effective transportation system, investment-friendly laws, and accessibility to export markets with favorable tariff agreements.

To put things in perspective, the Kingdom's Code 85 product exports reached $1.998 billion in 2022, up 84.8% from $1.081 billion the previous year. According to the GDCE, these exports and allied goods made up 8.9% of the nation's total export value in 2022, which came to $22.482 billion.