Council for the Development of Cambodia secretary-general Sok Chenda Sophea at a meeting on the progress of the Cambodia Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025 on October 11. CDC
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) on October 12 announced that it has approved four new proposals for manufacturing projects to produce items such as light bulbs, decorative lighting fixtures, Christmas products, electronics and components thereof, which have total registered investment capital of around $24 million and are expected to create 3,817 new jobs.
The CDC indicated in a notice that it has greenlit final registration certificates for all four projects, including Gorgeous Lights Co Ltd’s $8.1 million factory for light bulbs, decorative lighting fixtures and components thereof, in Svay Rieng province’s Svay Chrum district; and Lingbenyang Optoelectronics (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $5.2 million plant for light bulbs, electronics and parts thereof, in Takeo province’s Tram Kak district. Both are anticipated to deliver 1,033 jobs each.
The other two, valued at $5.4 million each, are JT Electronics Co Ltd’s factory for electronics, light bulbs and components thereof, in Svay Rieng’s Svay Chrum district; and Foreststar Tree Industrial (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s plant for souvenirs as well as Christmas trees, lights and ornaments, located in Svay Rieng’s Hi-park Special Economic Zone. The projects plan to bring in 983 and 768 jobs, respectively.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng commented that the Kingdom has emerged as a hot market for national and international investors, thanks to its strategic geographical location as well as benefits provided by the US’ Generalised System of Preferences, the EU’s “Everything But Arms” trade scheme and the bilateral Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement, on top of comparatively lower tariffs amid heightened rates elsewhere, which have been blamed on the US-China trade spat.
“Cambodia has been experiencing an increase in investment inflows recently, especially in the production of items granted tax exemptions by large countries,” he told The Post on October 13.
“In fact, the recent favourable tax provisions for Cambodian-made solar cells imported into the US market has led to a greater number of investors in solar cells and related technology for export there,” he added.
Heng was referring to the declaration of emergency issued by US President Joe Biden on June 6 to impose a 24-month moratorium on new duties on solar cell and module imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The move aims to ensure that the US has access to sufficient supply of these items to meet surging electricity demand.
Going forward, bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTA) will provide a crucial backbone for the Cambodian economy as it grows and the Kingdom likely loses access to various nations’ Generalised Schemes of Preferences after potentially shedding its ‘developing country’ tag, he contended.
Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, believes that the local investment community is moving in the right direction, as it shifts away from textile-related industries to practically all fields. Multi-sectoral investment will constitute a more solid cornerstone of the Cambodian economy, he said.
Vanak advocated for investing in the production of light bulbs, electrical equipment and electronics, arguing that these items are in high global demand, fuelled by their use in technological applications.
“Cambodia is becoming a very desirable place to invest, because in addition to an abundance of skilled labour and a favourable investment law, the Kingdom also has a large export market and access to relatively many generalised systems of preferences,” he said.
According to the October 12 notice, the CDC also gave the nod to Yi Zhou Hong Ri (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $5.1 million garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, which the council says could generate 744 jobs.
