Phnom Penh, Jan 10 (IANS): Cambodia exported products worth $22.48 billion in 2022, up about 16.4 per cent from $19.3 billion a year earlier, a report said on Tuesday.

The report published by the General Department of Customs and Excise said the main exported products included apparel, footwear, travel goods, bicycles and a number of agricultural goods such as rice, rubber, cassava, bananas and mangoes, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the report, the top five export destinations for the Southeast Asian nation are the US, Vietnam, China, Japan and Canada.

Meanwhile, the kingdom reported a total import of $29.94 billion in 2022, up about 4.3 per cent from $28.7 billion in the year before, the report said.

Key imported items included oil and gas, raw materials for garment, footwear and travel goods, vehicles, machinery, electronic appliances, and consuming products, among others, it added.

Ministry of Commerce Undersecretary of State Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) had injected a vital impetus to the country's trade growth.

Sovicheat said the two agreements, which took effect on January 1, 2022, are very beneficial to Cambodia as they have given the kingdom bigger market access with tariff concessions.

The RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and their five trading partners of China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.