PHNOM PENH: Over the last decade, Phnom Penh, Cambodia has morphed into a new city with high-rise buildings and shopping complexes too numerous to count, but nowhere has the change been more visible than on the city, and in fact the country's roads and side streets where a growing number of cars, trucks, busses, and motorbikes vie for limited space.

Cambodia has many automotive startups and suppliers, with untapped linkages to the regional and global value chains.

According to the data from CDC, investment capital in automotive assembly and components manufacturing from 2020 to 2022 was $1.38 billion. Automotive components manufacturers and vehicle assemblers have been growing in Cambodia.

Japan, Korea, and China are major investors, while the main export markets include Thailand and Japan. The Royal Government adopted the Cambodia Automotive and Electronics Sectors Development Roadmap in 2022, an indicator of the sector's importance for further economic growth.

According to calculations based on data from GDCE, from 2020 to 2022, exports of automotive components were $484.78 million and the compound annual growth rate in exports of automotive components was 10 percent.

Cambodia has a thriving domestic motorcycle market, attracting both assembly and component manufacturing.