Cambodia set to open Chinese trade centre
Cambodia set to open Chinese trade centre
Cambodia will open its sixth trade centre in the Chinese city of Kunming, in Yunnan province, in a bid to further promote trade, investment and tourism, amid negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA).The Kingdom already has five trade centres in China – in Guangzhou, Guangdong province; Xi’an, Shaanxi province; Haining, Zhejiang province; Yantai, Shandong province; and Hong Kong.
“The centres have played an important role in serving as a platform to display Cambodian products, and share information on tourism as well as investment and trade opportunities to Chinese businessmen and investors,” Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak said.
The Kunming city trade centre is to open on Saturday, he added.
Sorasak was speaking at the opening of the ministry’s annual meeting last week.
China Hong Kong and Macau Expatriate and Business Association of Cambodia chairman Yum Sui Sang told The Post in September that the Kingdom’s permissive investment environment and its US dollar-based economy were key factors for the private sector.
According to official ministry data, China invested some $14.7 billion in Cambodia from 1994 to 2016. The data also shows that from 1993 to the end of 2017, Cambodia signed concessional loan agreements with development partners to the value of $9.6 billion.
The report added that the government borrowed some $6.3 billion from countries on a bilateral basis, with $4.05 billion of this coming from China.
The latest figures from the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) showed that the government approved some $5.2 billion for investment in the first half of this year – a 48.5 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Of the total investment, local investors accounted for 68.4 per cent, with 25.4 per cent from China.
Chinese tourists topped the list of foreign visitors to Cambodia in the first nine months of this year, with 1.86 million – a 29.4 per cent year-on-year increase – accounting for 38.7 per cent of all international tourists, the Ministry of Tourism’s monthly report said last week.
The Kingdom received 4.81 million foreign tourists during the period.
