PHNOM PENH: The formation of the new Royal Government of Cambodia will bring new investments to the country, generating more jobs and contributing to economic growth.

Peace, political stability, and free trade agreements (FTAs), as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the new investment law, have made the country potential for investment, said H.E. Heng Sokkung, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation.

“In the new mandate of government, there will be new investors to inject investment capital, particularly in the non-garment manufacturing sector,” he affirmed.

The RCEP and Cambodia-China FTA entered into force earlier in 2022 while the Cambodia-Korea FTA came into effect in December last year.

Mr. Lim Heng, Vice-President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, shared his insight into the country's potential for investment.

“The existing trade pacts bilaterally and multilaterally and new free trade agreements with main trade partners provide more momentum in attracting investments in years to come,” he said.

The private sector has a firm belief that the new government will drive further economic growth through the existing free trade agreements, he added.

Cambodia attracted 113 fixed-asset investment projects worth US$1.1 billion in the first half of 2023, creating some 122,000 new jobs, said a report by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).

Foreign direct investment often reflects the confidence of an individual or an organization of a foreign country in the recipient nation's stability, growth prospect, and soundness of political, economic, and legal systems.

Under the new investment law, promulgated in October 2021, Cambodia is expected to attract more FDIs in the future, said H.E. Heng Sokkung, underlining that Cambodia welcomes investment from all countries in line with its Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025. AKP