The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the government body in charge of approving large-scale investments, has taken to Facebook to officially announce its decisions on investment projects, a move that a government official claimed yesterday will provide more transparent access for investors and the public to track economic developments.

Suon Sophal, deputy director of public relations for the CDC, said that since the beginning of October, the government body has been publicly disseminating all approved investments through social media.

“Facebook posts give investors more immediate access to our decisions, and it is something that the CDC wants to do more in the future to show transparency,” he said yesterday, adding that it is also planning to set up an email alert function to be sent immediately to investors once the council has made a judgment.

“This allows investors to not have to wait for their legal teams to notify them directly, something that can take time,” he added.

So far this month, the CDC has approved four separate projects – all related to the garment and footwear sector – with a combined total investment capital valued at nearly $10 million.

While Sophal said that it was possible that the CDC has approved more than four projects this month, typically averaging about 10 approvals a month, he said that more should be coming online soon.

“Regardless, once our Facebook page manager puts it on social media, it should be considered approved and effective on the date it is published,” he said. “This will also allow job-seekers and recruiters to plan more quickly for new job opportunities.”

He said that despite the new initiative, CDC would be an unreliable indicator to compile monthly data to identify overall investment trends, and that the government would still rely on annual reports to paint an investment picture.

The four projects approved this month include garment and footwear manufacturer Senyon (Cambodia) at $2.2 million, Kai De Garment Co Ltd at $2.2 million, Shi Yang Industrial (Cambodia) at $3.04 million and Min Rong Garment Factory at $2.16 million. The CDC estimates that the four projects will create over 1,800 new jobs when completed.