Cambodia attracts $5B investments in 10 months
Cambodia attracts $5B investments in 10 months
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) recorded 346 investment projects worth over $5 billion in the first 10 months of this year, marking an increase of 38 percent compared to the same period in 2023. The investments also created 270,000 jobs for local people.
This was disclosed by Chea Vuthy, Secretary General of the Cambodian Investment Board (CIB) of CDC, as he presided over the event themed ‘Economic Cooperation Forum and Lin Clans Commercial in Cambodia and International’ in Koh Pich on Tuesday.
The event was attended among others by Lim Soon Peng, Founder and Chairman of the World Lin Chamber of Commerce (WLCC).
In his remarks, the Secretary-General emphasised that over two decades of lasting peace has enabled development across all sectors in the country.
“In fact, the Kingdom’s economy grew by about five percent, with investment rising 38 percent in the first 10 months compared to the same period last year,” he said.
Vuthy expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation to the WLCC and the Lin Clans Commercial Association in Cambodia (LCCAC) for co-initiating this important forum, citing that initiative came from the meeting between Prime Minister Hun Manet and the WLCC Chairman in May this year.
“This forum is crucial for investors and businessmen to strengthen their interaction, communication and network, enabling all counterparts to learn about new laws, regulations, and investment potential in Cambodia,” the Secretary-General said.
He said that WLCC and LCCAC will continue to work closely with the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) aimed at attracting foreign investors to consider choosing the Kingdom as a potential investment destination for both direct investment and business partnerships with local investors.
“The initiative will mobilise foreign businesses to invest in priority sectors including agriculture and agro-industry, automobile and electronic manufacturing, industrial park and special economic zones (SEZs) development, tourism and hospitability, and green technologies.”
Vuthy went on to share the key factors that make Cambodia a prominent investment destination among Southeast Asia countries.
During the event, Nut-Un Voanra, Deputy Secretary General of CIB of CDC made a presentation on the “Implementation of Investment Law & Introduction of Flexible Mechanism to Provide Support and Respond to the Need of Investors’ to inform distinguish guests about the potential and business environment in the country.
Separately on the same day, Sar Senera, Deputy Secretary General of CIB, was invited as a speaker on the seminar topic ‘Economic Policy Update’ to share the importance of legal policies and instruments for attracting foreign direct investment, at Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh.
During the meeting, Senera pointed out that CDC registered a total of 227 projects with a total investment of over $4 billion and created 260,470 jobs in the first 10 months of 2023 while this year, the investment projects have reached 346 with capital worth over $5 billion and provided 268,242 new careers with the same duration.
While sharing his thoughts with Khmer Times, Anthony Galliano, Group CEO of Cambodian Investment Management Holdings (CIM), said that there is positive momentum on investment projects in the Kingdom.
“The silver lining is the diversity of projects, helping infrastructure development, leading to a revival of domestic spending, and increased allocation to manufacturing,” he noted.
“The negative aspect is the substantial concentration of foreign investment from China, mainly as a result of trade treaties, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), and the intensifying geopolitical trend of ‘friend-shoring’. Cambodia remains a strong destination for lower skills manufacturing investments in garments, travel goods, and footwear.”
He added that ASEAN has emerged as one of the hottest regions for foreign direct and portfolio investment due to the region’s robust economic expansion, favourable regulatory environment, and focus on emerging investment sectors of digital infrastructure, middle to high-end manufacturing with the supply chain shift with China de-risk play in motion, tourism, and renewable energy.
Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are the significant beneficiaries hence Cambodia has an opportunity to attract this hot money flowing into the region, primarily sourced from the US, EU, Japan, and intra-ASEAN, by focusing on building capacity in the sectors that are most trendy, CIM CEO added.
