THE Cambodia representative for the world's largest shipping company said exports from Cambodia to Europe grew by more than 60 per cent during 2011, but have since weakened, reports the Phnom Penh Post.

"Rice exports grew a lot during 2011 and a lot of it went to Poland and France," said Ben Wilson of Maersk (Cambodia) Ltd, which carries more cargo out of Cambodia than any other company. Europe received about 35,000 TEU from Cambodia during 2011, much of it coming from the garment and footwear factories here."

The jump in exports is credited to the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative by the European Union under which all imports from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are duty free and quota free, with the exception of armaments. Growth of transpacific shipments from Cambodia grew at about three per cent during 2011.

"There were no changes in the US so the growth stayed about the same," Mr Wilson said. Despite a big jump in 2011 exports to Europe, the European market has since weakened," said Mr Wilson. "We are seeing quite a weak market in Europe and the growth is not going to be as strong as it was last year."

While the North American market remains Cambodia's biggest, Mr Wilson predicts growth of about five per cent for that market.

"The intra-Asia trade looks like it will continue to grow. The Asian economies are not suffering as much as Europe and there's more investment from Japan, for example, in Cambodia. We may see more rice shipment growth in the region. We've seen a lot of rice to Malaysia and there's a lot of talk about rice to China."

Mr Wilson said one reason shipping out of Cambodia is expensive is because the volume is smaller, which prevents the economies of scale enjoyed by larger markets in Vietnam or Thailand. He said an efficiency study of Cambodia's ports by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recommended private involvement in ports.

"That's something we'd like to see the government look at seriously," he said. "They've done it with airports. They could also do it with seaports. Based on our experience in other countries we've seen how privatisation of ports can increase efficiency and reduce costs. That is something we would encourage the government to consider."

Mr Wilson said he was sure the new Phnom Penh River Port, scheduled to be operational later this year, would be successful, adding that he sees a lot of potential for agriculture in Cambodia's future. "There is a lot of potential for production of the more expensive fruit like mangoes and bananas that could be sold in the overseas market."

Shipments to North America totalled about 50,000 TEU during 2011, with 60 per cent of going out of the Sihanoukville port and 40 per cent going down the Mekong to the Cai Mep port in Vietnam from the Phnom Penh River Port. That contrasts with the European shipments, 90 per cent of which depart from Sihanoukville.