The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) approved three investment projects in the bags and garment sector with a total capital investment of $8.8 million, it said on Monday.

The projects approved are bag factory Quan Ming Handbag (Cambodia) Industrial Co Ltd, the bag and belt factory Gd New Sky Leather Products Co Ltd, and the garment factory Tao And Kiven Garment Co Ltd.

The CDC said the factories will generate 3,448 jobs. They will be located in Phnom Penh, and Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Long Kemvichet said Cambodia has the best investment environment due to the many trade preferences provided by the US and the EU, as well as “favourable” investment laws. More international investors, he said, are expressing interest in investing in the Kingdom.

“The arrival of new companies is a positive sign. It may attract other investors to Cambodia,” Kemvichet said.

Noting that the Kingdom may be at risk of losing duty-free export opportunities to the EU if the Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement is withdrawn, he said: “Cambodia is diversifying its export portfolio to reduce any potential impact”.

Kemvichet said the Kingdom is striving to reinforce its productivity and competitiveness in the export sector so that its products can compete with those of other countries, whether they are tax-tolerant or not.

Cambodia exported more than $7.97 billion worth of garment, textile and footwear (GTF) products in the first nine months of this year – up 13.18 per cent year-on-year from $7.044 billion – a report from the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s General Department of Customs and Excise said.

The US accounted for $2.5 billion of exports and the EU $2.4 billion – with $670 million going to the UK, Japan $711 million, Asean member states $121 million and other countries $1.5 billion, the report said.

The National Bank of Cambodia’s 2018 report said the Kingdom’s garment and footwear exports were valued at $10 billion – up 24 per cent from $8 billion in 2017.