The government approved three projects worth a total of $13.5 million last week, bringing the total number of projects in the first three weeks of this month to nine with total investment value of $1.1354 billion, the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) said on December 18.

Last week’s additions include Lak Sun (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $3.2 million project in Kampong Speu province’s Kong Pisei district that is expected to create 197 new jobs, Sinokh Perfect Garment Co Ltd’s $5.3 million garment factory in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district that is slated to provide 1,533 jobs.

Dongnan (Cambodia) Wood Co Ltd’s $5 million furniture and wooden decoration materials factory also got the nod and will sit in the Cambodian Zhejiang Guoji SEZ industrial park in Preah Sihanouk province and will generate 220 jobs.

Vei Samnang, the provincial governor of Kampong Speu, which has been on the receiving end of a recent series of new investment projects, told The Post on December 20 that free trade agreements (FTA) with trading partners, especially China, the world’s most populous market, have made significant contributions to attracting foreign investors to Cambodia.

He said the growth of investment projects approved by the CDC during the period is present in almost every field and region.

“The signing of free trade agreements is paving the way for Cambodia to receive steady increases in investment, which will not only create new jobs, but also help raise the Cambodian market image,” Samnang said.

He noted that this is in addition to the Kingdom’s favourable geographical location, political stability, investment law and diplomatic relations.

Hong Vanak, director of International Economics, Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the increase in CDC approvals was a good sign for Cambodia’s economic health in the context of the global Covid-19 epidemic.

In addition to receiving the slew of new investments, he said Cambodia also needs to adjust its investment conditions further, adding that the Kingdom also received good news from trade relations front with the UK.

“While Britain, which has just left the EU, has recently pledged to boost cooperation with Cambodia by early 2021, I expect it to be even more positive, to attract more foreign investors to Cambodia,” Vanak said.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng previously said that although the world is facing the Covid-19 epidemic crisis, the Kingdom could still see a steady increase in investment inflows.

This growth, he said, shows that investors are all optimistic about the continuous growth achieved by the Cambodian economy.

“In the past, there had been many concerns that the removal of the EU’s withdrawal of its ‘Everything But Arms’ [EBA] trade scheme would cause a lot of problems for Cambodia’s exports, but obviously we see that it didn’t,” Heng said.