PHNOM PENH, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has approved 87 fixed-asset investment projects worth about 2.7 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2022, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC)'s report on Friday.
The approved projects included garment, footwear and travel goods factories, tire factory, hotels, hospitals, automobile assembly factory, electronic factory, and fruit processing and packaging factory, among others, the report said, adding that they are expected to generate tens of thousands of new jobs for locals.
Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) as well as the country's favorable new investment law are key to attracting investors.
"Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia has attracted a large amount of investment capital. This clearly shows that the Southeast Asian nation is a potential destination for both domestic and foreign investors, especially for the Chinese ones," he told Xinhua.
Both RCEP and CCFTA entered into force on January 1, 2022.
RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
"Both free trade agreements will give a big boost to our trade and investment growth in the long term," Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat told Xinhua. ■