Workshop: Promoting Sustainable Rubber Production, Trade, and Investment in Cambodia and Vietnam
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Vietnam and Cambodia are closely connected through investment into and trade of natural rubber (NR). Cambodia is Vietnam’s most important destination for investment in NR production and Vietnam’s key NR exporter.
Given the interconnectedness of Cambodia and Vietnam around the production and trade of NR and the emergence of deforestation-free regulation from major markets, it is crucial to get a common understanding of the current supply chain of NR between the two countries. A workshop titled “Promoting Sustainable Rubber Production, Trade and Investment in Cambodia and Vietnam”.
On behalf of the co-organizers, we would like to invite you to participate in and share information about your company’s rubber supply chain at the workshop. Please register by filling in your information at the following link: https://bit.ly/RubWS5325.
- Time: March 27, 2025
- Offline venue: Riverside Hotel, 41 Preah Norodom Blvd, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Online: A Zoom link to be shared upon registration
- Language: English, Khmer and Vietnamese
- Participants: representatives of rubber enterprises in Cambodia and Vietnam, development agencies, research institutes, NGOs, stakeholders in the sustainable rubber supply chain and trade
- Co-organizers: Forest Trends, Oxfam Cambodia and Vietnam Rubber Association.
Context:
Vietnam and Cambodia are closely connected through investment into and trade of natural rubber (NR). Cambodia is Vietnam’s most important destination for investment in NR production and Vietnam’s key NR exporter. Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) is the leading investor in NR in Cambodia, with 16 rubber plantation projects covering nearly 90,000 ha and 7 processing facilities in 7 provinces in Cambodia. There are other Vietnamese companies invested in NR in Cambodia as well. According to Vietnam’s customs data, in 2024, Vietnam imported nearly 916.2 thousand tons of NR from Cambodia, or over 64,3% of Vietnam’s total imports, worth over 1.2 billion US dollars. Import from Cambodia almost equals Vietnam’s production.
China is Vietnam’s most important export market for NR. Most of the NR produced in Vietnam and imported from Cambodia is exported to China. In 2024, Vietnam exported 1.45 million tons of NR to China, valuing $2.4 billion US dollars. Other Vietnam’s essential export markets include the EU, Korea and the US. While there’s no specific available information if NR from Vietnam imported to China gets its way to the EU and other markets, anecdotes have indicated that part of the imported is exported to these markets in rubber final products such as tires and threads.
Major consumer markets such as the US and EU are adopting increasingly stringent requirements on the legality and sustainability of products imported into these countries. In 2023, the EU passed the deforestation regulation (EUDR) that bans several products, including rubber, if the production of these products is linked to deforestation. Importers in the EU are required to ensure their products are legal and deforestation-free. Products need to be traceable back to the plot of land where they are grown. Current trends have shown that increasing legality and sustainability requirements will be widely adopted in major markets in the future.
Objectives:
- Provide a better understanding of rubber production and trade of and investment into rubber in each country.
- Inform relevant stakeholders from both sides regarding the current supply chains between Cambodia and Vietnam, including the legality and sustainability aspects of these chains.
- Discuss legality/sustainability risks associated with the production and trade of and investment into rubber in each country.
- Explore the opportunity for future collaboration to facilitate legal and sustainable production and trade between the two countries.