Senate president calls for Korean investment
Senate president calls for Korean investment
Cambodian Senate president Say Chhum called for increased South Korean investment and tourism in the Kingdom as bilateral ties between the two countries have gradually strengthened.
He made the call during a meeting with South Korean ambassador to Cambodia Park Heung-kyeong held at the Senate on December 25.
Chhum lauded South Korea for its generosity, saying the country “has made significant contributions to Cambodia’s socio-economic development through the provision of official assistance in the areas of infrastructure, water resources management and public welfare, education, rural development, agriculture and demining.
“They have continued to provide scholarships for students and Cambodian civil servants to go study in the Republic of Korea,” he said using the country’s official name.
“As a result of this positive relationship, the trade volume between our two countries has steadily increased,” according to him.
Park praised the state visits made by the leaders of the two countries in 2019-2020.
He voiced hopes that the leadership of both countries would have further opportunities to exchange ideas on the occasions of the 22nd ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit and the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit, to be held in Cambodia in early June 2021.
He noted that more than 400,000 Korean tourists visit Cambodia every year and that there are 40,000 Cambodian workers in South Korea.
Despite this year’s outbreak of Covid-19, he said South Korea has continued to grant visas to eligible Cambodian workers.
“Negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement between our countries have advanced quite far in 2020, and Korea has already ratified a law on double tax avoidance to help facilitate the exchange of trade between us,” Park said.
According to Park, bilateral trade between the two countries reached $1 billion last year and the volume of South Korean investment in Cambodia totalled $5.7 billion, second only to China.
