Thailand
Cambodia attracts $3 billion investment in first half
Cambodia attracted a fixed-asset investment of almost $3 billion in the first half of this year, reflecting the firm confidence of investors in the Kingdom’s growth prospects.
The Council for the Development of Cambodia registered 98 projects with a total investment of $2.99 billion in January-June period of this year, inching up $29 million from the same period last year.
Local investment projects with a total investment of $1.59 billion accounted for 53.23 percent of total investment, while foreign investment from China registered $1.29 billion, accounting for 43.02 percent, stated the CDC report.
Other foreign investments in the kingdom for the first half of this year were from Thailand, Samoa, British Virgin Islands, South Korea, Singapore, Cayman Islands, Malaysia, Japan and Australia, it added.
The increase in both investment projects and value reflected the confidence of investors in the Cambodian government after the country resumed its socio-economic activities following the improvement in the Covid-19 scenario, said Lim Heng, Vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce.
Heng also attributed the growth in the investment sector to stability, peace, and social security, particularly the successful Covid-19 control with a high rate of vaccinated population.
“The resumption of social and economic activities attracted interest from both local and foreign investors to invest in the country,” Heng said yesterday.
“Cambodia will be able to attract more investments because both local and foreign investors see the potential of trade preferences the country has such as RCEP, Cambodia-China FTA, Cambodia-Korea FTA and the implementation of the new investment law,” he added.
Investment projects had been focused on agriculture and agro-industry sectors, manufacturing, tourism, and infrastructure.
The growth of investment reflected the government’s efforts to recover the economy from the pandemic, said Sok Chenda Sophea, Secretary-General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia.
“This increase is not a coincidence, but due to the efforts of the government, which has won the battle against Covid-19 by using vaccines as a key strategic weapon, enabling Cambodia to resume its socio-economic development in all sectors from last November,” Sophea was quoted by Freshnews.
Heng Sokkung, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, said that support of infrastructure and sufficient energy contributed to building confidence in investors in Cambodia.
“The government has built and improved physical infrastructure to facilitate better transport, increase sufficient energy and clean water to ensure stable production chains. This has built firm confidence in investors to invest in Cambodia,” Sokkung said.
The Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal were put into force in January this year.
CCC’s Lim Heng said new trade preferences under the FTAs that the government has planned to establish with partner countries would give more boost in attracting new investment and export Cambodia-made products to wider markets.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501118473/cambodia-attracts-3-billion-investment-in-first-half/