Cambodia’s international trade rose 15.5 per cent year-on-year to US$17.65 billion in January-April. - Phnom Penh Post/ANN
PHNOM PENH, June 11 (Phnom Penh Post/ANN): More investments from large and high-tech international companies in North America and Europe are expected following a working group meeting between the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and its counterparts in those regions.
“Investors in many large companies in North America and Europe have promised to find a suitable opportunity to invest in Cambodia,” said Lim Heng, vice-president of CCC, who has been meeting with delegates in the West since early May.
Speaking to The Post via instant messaging on June 9, he said CCC has met with investors and chambers of commerce from the US, Canada and Europe.
Among the meetings with investors, one of them was with a nuclear power plant investor who has expressed interest in Cambodia, pending the enactment of nuclear power laws here.
He also shared that existing investor, Canadian-based company Duraflex Solutions, a road construction solutions provider, is keen on increasing investment in Cambodia.
“The company’s senior management has also promised to help guide other Canadian companies to invest more in Cambodia because our country is recognised as a place with a lot of potential.
“This is thanks to our new investment law, which is very favourable towards investors, and electricity supply, infrastructure and rich in skilled labour. Cambodia is a country that has the right conditions for investment,” Lim said.
Separately, CCC and the US Chamber of Commerce have agreed to organise more meet-ups in a year and sign a memorandum of understanding, Lim said, reminding that CCC opened an office in Toronto, Canada during his trip there last month. It symbolised the chamber’s first international office outside Cambodia.
Meanwhile, Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the Kingdom will largely benefit from investment by companies in the US, Canada and Europe as they are more advanced and have modern technology.
The investments would help increase production capacity, quality and export of goods from Cambodia to international markets and ensure sustainability.
Cambodia has bilateral free trade agreements with China and South Korea, and is part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which provides good opportunities for investment.
“I think CCC’s meeting with the chambers in the US, Canada and Europe will have a positive impact on investment in Cambodia, which can drive economic growth and help the government achieve its plan to transform Cambodia into a high middle-income country by 2030,” he said.
From January to April this year, Cambodia’s international trade rose 15.5 per cent year-on-year to US$17.65 billion, data by the General Department of Customs and Excise showed.
Of that figure, exports amounted to US$7.6 billion while imports totalled US$10.04 billion. - Phnom Penh Post/ANN
