CAMBODIA, Feb 17 (Phnom Penh Post/ANN) - Singapore-based company PLMP Holding Pte Ltd has expressed its intention to invest in various sectors in Kampong Speu province, despite the EU’s partial withdrawal of its Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme, provincial governor Vei Samnang said on Sunday.
Representatives of PLMP Holding met with Samnang over the weekend and discussed investment opportunities in the province.
The company currently owns 115ha in the province’s Kong Pisei district.
Samnang told The Post that the province is witnessing an increase in foreign and domestic investors.
The arrival of Singaporean investors shows the strength of foreign investors’ confidence in Cambodia, despite the partial cancellation of the EBA, he said.
He said the company – with its huge capital investment – is eyeing the construction sector and has expressed its interest in establishing special economic zones (SEZs), fruit packaging plants and steel mills.
“The Singaporean investors have yet to specify which area they will invest in. All I can say now is that the company has already bought land, ” Samnang said, adding that it has not disclosed the amount of capital it plans to invest.
He said improved political stability, a vast young labour force and well-organised infrastructure make the province an attractive option for investment.
There are currently nearly 300 small and large-sized enterprises operating in the province and more than 100 are in preparation, as well as an SEZ, Samnang said.
Speaking at the Cambodia-Singapore Business Dialogue workshop last month, Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) secretary-general Sok Chenda Sophea called for more Singaporeans to invest in the Kingdom – especially in the tourism and agro-processing sectors.
“Cambodia and Singapore have a double taxation agreement and income-related embezzlement prevention measures, which can put investors’ concerns at ease, ” he said.
Speaking at the workshop, Thian Tai Chew, the executive director for Asean at the Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF’s) Global Business Division, said Cambodia is a major investment destination for Singapore investors.
An SBF report said the Kingdom ranks seventh among the countries Singaporeans are interested in investing.
As of December, Singapore investments in Cambodia totalled about $1.355 billion and created more than 150,000 jobs, data from the CDC showed.
In the first nine months of last year, Cambodia exported $10.9 billion worth of goods to international markets, a National Bank of Cambodia report said.
Singapore ranked eighth with a two per cent market share, whereas China had a 39 per cent market share, it said.
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