Canada Upgrades Diplomatic Mission to Embassy

Justin Trudeau spoke of the move with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at a sideline meeting of the ASEAN Summit in Laos on October 10. Photo: Prime Minister Hun Manet via Facebook

PHNOM PENH – Canada plans to upgrade its office in Phnom Penh to a full embassy, its Prime Minister says.

Justin Trudeau spoke of the move with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet  at a sideline meeting of the ASEAN Summit in Laos on October 10.

“The leaders discussed the growing ties between the two countries, including the upgrade of Canada’s office in Phnom Penh to a full Canadian embassy,” Trudeau said. 

As part of its Indo-Pacific Strategy, Trudeau announced plans for a Team Canada Trade Mission to Cambodia in 2025, hoping to improve trade with ASEAN after the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement is concluded. The agreement began in 2021.

Hun Manet said Canada’s involvement in the country’s peace efforts and development assistance as well as demining assistance in the 90s  have been  essential. 

In 1954, Canada initiated its first military operations in Cambodia, with about 30 Canadians taking part in the International Commission for Supervision and Control to enforce the Geneva Accords.

As Cambodia went through the civil war and the brutal genocide Khmer Rouge regime, Canadian Armed Forces members returned in 1991 to restore the country.

The last Canadian peacekeepers left after the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia ended its mission in 1993.

Canada also sent more than 60 armed forces members between 1994 and 2000 to identify and eradicate land mines and UXOs left from decades of war. The task is currently under a UN mandate.

Hun Manet said Canada, Cambodia's seventh largest trading partner, has significantly aided the country's socio-economic development through job creation and professional growth and has recently organized a trade fair in Montreal.

In 2023, Canadian direct investment in Cambodia reached $1.6 billion. The trade volume reached $2.1 billion, down from $2.4 billion in 2022.

In 2023, the value of exports to Cambodia increased to $37.2 million from $33.3 million in 2022. 

Since 2002, there has been a consistent increase trend in Cambodian goods exported to Canada, which reached $1.8 billion in 2021 and $2.4 billion in 2022.

Canadian exports include vehicles, aircraft parts, fur skins and industrial machinery, while top Canadian imports include apparel, footwear, and textiles.

Hun Manet said, “Cambodia has launched many in-depth reform programs to meet the needs and requests of the private sector, including improving the investment climate to be more favorable as well as launching incentives to help the sector to grow even more.”

Canada has a long-standing relationship with Cambodia, dating back to the Indochina conflict and the Paris Peace Accords, encompassing political, economic, development, regional security, and commercial relations.

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