Cambodia and Indonesia plan to host a Trade and Investment Forum early in June in an effort to attract more Indonesian investors to the Kingdom.

The plans were revealed after a meeting between Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia Sudirman Haseng and Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation Cham Prasidh on Monday.

Sudirman said the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh will cooperate with the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce to organise the Trade and Investment Forum in June to facilitate direct contact between Cambodian business leaders and Indonesian investors.

He said the embassy also plans to invite the private sector from Myanmar and Laos to join the forum.

Prasidh said Cambodia has a lot of investment potential for Indonesian investors and businesspeople.

“Cambodia and Indonesia can enhance economic relations so that both countries can join hands,” he said.

He said Indonesian investors can invest in Halal food, rice processing, garment and textile manufacturing, poultry and fruit exports.

Cambodia will seek cooperation with Indonesia as the Kingdom’s coal-power plants are scheduled to be online soon, leading to an increased need for raw material from Indonesia.

The Kingdom welcomed some 51,873 Indonesian tourists in the first 10 months of last year – a sharp increase of about 23 per cent from 42,253 in the same period in 2018, Ministry of Tourism data shows.

Bilateral trade and economic ties between Indonesia and Cambodia have been steadily growing.

In 2018, bilateral trade reached $558.6 million, with Indonesian exports at $525.6 million and Cambodian exports at $33 million, embassy data shows.