PHNOM PENH, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported products worth 6.26 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter, up 18 percent from 5.3 billion dollars over the same period last year, said General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) in a report released on Wednesday.

Main exported products included apparel, footwear, and travel goods, bicycles, and a number of agricultural goods such as rice, rubber, cassava, bananas and mangoes, the report said.

The top five export destinations are the United States, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Thailand, the report added.

Meanwhile, the kingdom recorded the total imports at 6.23 billion dollars during the January-March period this year, up 6.3 percent from 5.86 billion dollars a year earlier, the report said.

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

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) had injected vigorous impetus into the country's trade growth.

"Both the RCEP and the CCFTA are catalysts for our long-term and sustainable trade growth and the two free trade agreements are a magnet to attract more foreign direct investments to Cambodia," he told Xinhua.

"With preferential tariffs provided by the RCEP and the CCFTA, our trade growth will continue to rise throughout this year and beyond, undoubtedly," he added.

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, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Enditem

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