Investment Conference - 2011 in Cambodia

Investment Conference - 2011
Global Challenges, Cambodia's Responses

October 11-12, 2011

Intercontinental Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Keynote address by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN SEN, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia

To register, please follow this link

To access the conference brochure and program, please follow this link

The business community in Cambodia is acutely aware of the International community's diverse perceptions of Cambodia. Having taken part in the development of this country, business leaders on the ground are able to provide a balanced prognosis of the current economic environment; not only to include the obvious challenges of starting up or expanding into an Least Developed Country (LDC) but also to identify the advantages and numerous opportunities that Cambodia has to offer.

This conference, organised by the International Business Chamber of Cambodia, is for the forward looking and those seeking to mitigate the risks of global business. The program will feature plenary sessions and workshops on a range of subjects such as investment climate, practicalities of doing business in Cambodia, opportunities and sector overviews (tourism, agribusiness, financial services, manufacturing, etc.).

Plenary sessions and workshops on a range of subjects such as investment climate, practicalities of doing business in Cambodia, opportunities, sector overviews (tourism, agribusiness, manufacturing, etc.) and real business experiences.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Cambodia, China announce 1.6billion dollar deal: officials

Thursday, November 04, 2010
AFP

China’s Wu Bangguo (L) toasts with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

PHNOM PENH — China will inject 1.6 billion dollars into Cambodian infrastructure over five years, officials said Thursday, just days after the US urged the country not to become too dependent on the Asian giant.

"Within the next five years, Cambodia and China will have 23 co-operation projects," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters after a meeting between China’s top legislator Wu Bangguo and the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen.

Hydropower dams, mining projects, bridges and railway linkswould be among the initiatives funded by China between 2010 and 2015, he added.

At their meeting in Phnom Pehn, Wu and Hun Sen witnessed the signing of 16 deals, including a loan agreement arranged by the Bank of China that will see Cambodia’s largest mobile operator CamGSM borrow over 590 million dollars.

China also plans to help Cambodia build a new railway to neighbouring Vietnam, providing one of the last missing links for a pan-Asian network that would connect Singapore with China’s Kunming by train, according to the spokesman.

He said Wu also promised to boost Chinese direct investment in the kingdom, which so far this year stands at 610 million dollars.

Wu’s visit to Cambodia comes just days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a high-profile appearance in the country and urged Cambodians not to become "too dependent" on China.

Khieu Kanharith said Wu hailed the "fast growing ties" between the two countries and told Hun Sen that "China does not want to seek power and become the owner of the region".

China — a former patron of the Khmer Rouge regime, which oversaw the deaths of up to two million people in the 1970s — is the country’s top donor, according to Cambodia.

Nearly 400 Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars in Cambodia, including key infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams and coal power plants.

But China’s involvement in the country has not been without controversy.

A December 2009 decision by Cambodia to deport 20 Uighurs, a largely Muslim minority group in western China — despite their application for UN refugee status — came ahead of a 1.2 billion dollar aid and loan package from Beijing.

China has rejected accusations that the generous package was linked to the move.

S.Korea to boost investment in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Myung-bak pledged on Thursday to boost economic ties with Cambodia after the global economic crisis slashed its investment in the impoverished nation by more than half.

Lee said the purpose of his visit was to improve ties and encourage new South Korean companies to invest in the kingdom’s agriculture and energy sectors.

South Korea is the second-biggest source of foreign direct investment in Cambodia after China, but new investment slowed when the global economic slowdown took its toll.

‘There will be increase in economic cooperation in agriculture and others sectors to boost Cambodia’s economic growth,’ Lee said at a meeting of Cambodian and South Korean businesses.

According to South Korea’s ambassador to Cambodia, South Korea invested $2.7 billion in the country in 2007 but that figure dropped to $1.2 billion in 2008.

Two-way trade was $120 million in the first half of this year, a 58 percent decline from the same period in 2008, Ambassador Lee Kyung-soo said last week.

Investment from South Korea after 2004, mainly in garments, IT, and tourism, helped spur four years of double-digit growth in Cambodia, which is enjoying an unprecedented period of economic and political stability after decades of civil war.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urged South Korean companies to invest in agriculture and tourism, and look into oil and gas exploration. Cambodia and neighbouring Thailand have both laid claim to offshore reserves in the Gulf of Thailand.

South Korea has also agreed loans for the country worth $200 million from 2009-2012, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters on Thursday.

Nine agreements were signed during the visit concerning cooperation in commerce, industry, mineral resources, energy and forest plantation.

Source: http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2009-10/15267665-s-korea-to-boost-investment-in-cambodia-020.htm

U.S.-Cambodia looking for investment possibilities to boost economic ties

 A group of U.S. investors from the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council on Thursday visited Cambodia to observe investment opportunities and to boost trade and investment ties between U.S. and ASEAN member countries.
The group consisted of 11 U.S. firms led by Frances Zwenig, the Counselor of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council.
During a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday afternoon, Frances Zwenig said the firms were in the businesses of oil and gas, manufacturing industries, automobile, financial industry, technologies, telecommunications and health.
"The visit will be a good opportunity for the U.S. investors to learn about Cambodia's potentials and it will also build stronger economic and trade relations between the U.S. and ASEAN member countries," she said.
During the first half of this year, the Council for the Development of Cambodia had reported that the U.S. investment projects in Cambodia was 142 million U.S. dollars, compared to the only 34.5 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year.
On the trade side, the two countries' bilateral trade was around one billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, mostly Cambodia's garment exports to the United States, according to the record of the Commerce Ministry.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen said Cambodia's economic growth was currently supported by garment industry, tourism, agriculture and real estate, and the government had been encouraging foreign investors to put their ventures in extractive industries including mining, oil and gas in order to boost the economic growth.
The premier also asked the U.S. investors to consider investing in agriculture by setting up processing plants of rice, corn, cassava and rubber.
Earlier in the day, the delegation met with the Minister of Finance Keat Chhon.
The delegation's visit to Cambodia was made just two weeks after the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) and Cambodia Chamber of Commerce inked deal on trade loan guarantees to boost trade between the two countries.
Under the agreement, Exim Bank will provide loan guarantees to underwrite the risk of nonpayment of medium- and long-term loans extended by commercial banks to Cambodian buyers of U.S. goods and services.

China seeks to expand trade, investment ties with Cambodia

China seeks to expand trade, investment ties with Cambodia

Cambodia eyes Chinese investment to boost economy

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Relations between China and Cambodia have grown closer in recent years, with Beijing investing billions of dollars in the southeast Asian nation to help boost its economy, an official said Friday.

China has become Cambodia's biggest source of foreign direct investment, said Mao Tianyu, division chief of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese companies invested 395 million U.S. dollars in non-financial sectors in Cambodia last year, an increase of 83 percent year-on-year. By the end of July 2011, China's outbound direct investment in non-financial sectors in Cambodia amounted to 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, Mao said.

Cambodia's economy has been growing rapidly but is still weak compared with other countries in the region.

Its gross domestic product (GDP) rose 5.9 percent year-on-year to reach 11.44 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, a growth rate slower than Thailand's 7.8-percent increase and also below the 6.8-percent rise seen in Vietnam, said Xu Ningning, executive vice secretary-general of the China-ASEAN Business Council.

Cambodia's per capita GDP stood at 792 U.S. dollars last year with an annual inflation rate of 3.1 percent.

Most rural households in Cambodia depend on agriculture and related sub-sectors. Agriculture, apparel, real estate and tourism are the country's four pillar industries.

As a country endeavoring to integrate itself into the global economy, Cambodia has shown great enthusiasm for foreign investment.

The country approved 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment during the first seven months of this year, up 301 percent from last year, Xu said.

Khek Caimealy Sysoda, Cambodia's ambassador to China, said she hopes to see more Chinese investment in her home country.

"Cambodia enjoys political and macro-economic stability as well as a transparent legal framework. It has a lot of potential for investment," she said.

U.S.-Cambodia looking for investment possibilities to boost economic ties

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A group of U.S. investors from the U.S.-ASEANBusiness Council on Thursday visited Cambodia to observe investment opportunitiesand to boost trade and investment ties between U.S. and ASEAN member countries.


The group consisted of 11 U.S. firms led by Frances Zwenig, the Counselor of theU.S.-ASEAN Business Council.

During a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday afternoon,Frances Zwenig said the firms were in the businesses of oil and gas, manufacturing industries, automobile, financial industry, technologies, telecommunications and health.

"The visit will be a good opportunity for the U.S. investors to learn about Cambodia'spotentials and it will also build stronger economic and trade relations between the U.S.and ASEAN member countries," she said.

During the first half of this year, the Council for the Development of Cambodia hadreported that the U.S. investment projects in Cambodia was 142 million U.S. dollars,compared to the only 34.5 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year.

On the trade side, the two countries' bilateral trade was around one billion U.S. dollarsin the first half of this year, mostly Cambodia's garment exports to the United States,according to the record of the Commerce Ministry.

Meanwhile, Hun Sen said Cambodia's economic growth was currently supported bygarment industry, tourism, agriculture and real estate, and the government had beenencouraging foreign investors to put their ventures in extractive industries includingmining, oil and gas in order to boost the economic growth.

The premier also asked the U.S. investors to consider investing in agriculture by settingup processing plants of rice, corn, cassava and rubber.

Earlier in the day, the delegation met with the Minister of Finance Keat Chhon.

The delegation's visit to Cambodia was made just two weeks after the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) and Cambodia Chamber of Commerce inked deal on tradeloan guarantees to boost trade between the two countries.

Under the agreement, Exim Bank will provide loan guarantees to underwrite the risk ofnonpayment of medium- and long-term loans extended by commercial banks toCambodian buyers of U.S. goods and services.