Why Cambodia is ‘highly important’ to Philippines as Marcos eyes trade, anti-crime

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is set to begin a state visit to Cambodia on Sunday in a bid to revitalise bilateral relations and address shared challenges such as transnational crime, in what analysts say is a platform for both countries to realise their untapped trade opportunities.

Marcos and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos are scheduled to be in Cambodia until Tuesday for a three-day visit, following an invitation from King Norodom Sihamoni.

The visit is seen as a reciprocal gesture after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet visited the Philippines in February, when the two leaders signed eight agreements on key areas, including trade and investment, agriculture, education, tourism and information and communications technology.

The state visit by Marcos to Cambodia is the first by a Philippine president since 2016.

At a press briefing on Friday, Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Angelica Escalona characterised the visit as “highly important,” with Marcos aiming to expand economic ties and cooperation between both countries in addressing transnational crimes and human trafficking.

In August, 24 Filipinos who were alleged victims of trafficking by online scam syndicates returned to the Philippines following a rescue operation. They were recruited through Facebook job advertisements and were promised high-paying work as encoders or customer service staff, but were forced to operate as love scammers, according to the Bureau of Immigration.