The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has approved 10 projects this month as of Tuesday with a total capital investment of $34.52 million and which are expected to create more than 6,000 jobs.

The CDC said it issued final registration certificates for Global Asia Apparel (Cambodia) Co Ltd and Sinodex Garment (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s garment factories worth $3 million each.

It also issued certificates for Good Plus (Cambodia) Manufacture Co Ltd’s $2.7 million garment and face mask factory, GCH International Trade Co Ltd’s $3.2 million bag factory and Logwood Apparel Co Ltd’s $2.7 million garment factory which will specialise in medical apparel and face masks.

Other projects include Biao Xin Sheng Packaging and Printing Co Ltd’s $1 million bicycle sticker, offset printing and packaging material plant, Leadone International Co Ltd’s $2.8 million plastic and artificial leather factory.

Also approved were New Phoenix Development Industry Co Ltd’s $9 million light bulb and lamp parts manufacturing plant, Simple Packing Products Co Ltd’s $2.12 million cardboard and packaging materials factory, and Jin Xinsheng (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $5 million offset printing, adhesive tape and thread plant.

World Bank senior economist Sodeth Ly told a news conference for its economic update that foreign investment in the Kingdom appears to be turning away from textiles and garments and getting into position to capitalise on the benefits of the Cambodia-China bilateral free trade agreement from next year.

“I have observed that foreign direct investment does not seem to be focused much on the construction sector during the Covid-19 epidemic, shifting to the non-garment industry.

“We need to further diversify the logistics, transport, infrastructure and electricity sectors to keep our production costs low, competitive and attractive to foreign investors,” he said.