Two Chinese companies plan to invest in a car assembly plant and an organic fertiliser processing plant in Cambodia, following a visit by a delegation of 20 company representatives from Shandong province last week.

The delegation was led by Shandong provincial vice-governor Wang Shujian, who met Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak on Thursday to explore investment opportunities in the Kingdom, the ministry said via Facebook.

Wang said Fu Lai Chun Group Co Ltd decided to invest in the Camko Motor Company Ltd-owned car assembly plant which opened in 2011 in the Koh Kong Special Economic Zone.

Camko Motor Company is a joint venture between Hyundai distributor KH Motors and Cambodia’s Ly Yong Phat Group.

Guomei Liquor Group Co Ltd plans to invest in the organic fertiliser processing plant, Wang said. “I will continue to promote and attract more investment from Shandong to Cambodia,” he said.

Sorasak urged Wang to encourage the Chinese to invest in other sectors as well, such as processing agricultural products for export.

“Cambodia has a high potential for agriculture, such as mango, banana, longan, cassava and paddy, but lacks processing and packaging plants,” he said.

Ministry of Commerce officials could not be reached for comment on Monday to disclose further details such as the size or date of the investments.

The ministry’s data shows that bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and China reached $6.040 billion last year, an increase of 13.8 per cent compared to 2017.

However, Cambodia Chamber of Commerce president Kith Meng said last week that the bilateral trade volume between the two countries hit $7.4 billion last year – a 22 per cent increase compared to 2017.