Gov't urges more Japanese investment

Photo by: Sovann Philong
Construction workers outside South Korea’s Phnom Penh Gyeongbuk Culture, Tourism and Trade Promotion Centre. The South Korean Ambassador, Lee Kyung-soo, has pledged to increase investment.

South Korea pledges to increase investment

SOUTH Korea has pledged to increase investment in Cambodia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said Tuesday. The pledge was made by South Korea’s Ambassador to Cambodia Lee Kyung-soo during talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong Monday. The embassy would attract investments from Korean firms in the construction, tourism and garment sectors, Lee

reportedly told the minister. Koy Kuong also announced that Prime Minister Hun Sen would lead a delegation to Korea for the Asean-Korea Commemorative Summit on June 1-2. Korean investment in Cambodia fell to US$472.89 million in 2008 from $629.49 million in 2007. The decline came despite planned investment of $828.4 million in 2007 up to $1.257 billion in 2008 as investors delayed plans in the wake of the economic crisis. NGUON SOVAN

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha
Thursday, 23 April 2009

Delegation from Japan meets with government officials and discusses more investment projects in the Kingdom.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen has called for more Japanese investment in Cambodia, telling a visiting Japanese delegation that continuing peace and stability made it an ideal destination for foreign capital.

During a Wednesday meeting with the delegation, led by Akio Dobashi, chairman of the Japanese Trade Association, Hun Sen said Japanese investors should have confidence in Cambodia's economy.

"Many Japanese investors have come to Cambodia to study and look for investment opportunities but have not yet commenced their projects," the prime minister's spokesman Eang Sophalleth quoted him as saying.

Eang Sophalleth said the Japanese delegation is studying the investment climate and asking for advice during the current global financial crisis.

"Hun Sen reassured the Japanese delegation about the country's peace and stability as well as the potential for investment now that Cambodia has implemented its [1997] Investment Law," he said.

The Cambodian Investment Board approved over US$113 million of fixed asset investments from Japan in 2007, while bilateral trade topped $101 million in 2008, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Meanwhile, officials have hailed recent increases in trade and foreign direct investment between Cambodia and Russia. At a meeting Wednesday between Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and outgoing Russian Ambassador Valery Tereshchenko, both parties pledged to promote trade and investment.

"In 2004 bilateral trade between Cambodia and Russia was worth about US$3 million, but the number rose to $21 million in 2007," said Koy Kuong, spokesman at the ministry. "So far Russia has invested more than $600 million in Cambodia."

Tereshchenko told Hor Namhong that more Russian firms were interested in Cambodia and that on his return he would encourage Russian companies to invest, Koy Kuong added.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHUN SOPHAL