[PHNOM PENH POST]
Investment approved between January and October surpassed those last
year by US$160 million, according to a report from the Council for the
Development of Cambodia.
The 126 local and foreign investment
projects through October, worth about $6 billion, overshadowed the $5.8
billion in the whole of 2010.
Improvements in investment
regulations, as well as the reduction of red tape, had contributed to
the increased investment, analysts and private-sector representatives
said.
Infrastructure and energy shortfalls, however, still hindered the country’s potential.
England
was the largest investor this year – much to the surprise of the
British business community – with a fertiliser project worth $2.2
billion. The project was based in the Cayman Islands and owned by Royal
Group of Companies’ Kith Meng, the Post reported last month.
Cambodia
approved 23 domestic projects worth $1.39 billion, as well as $1.16
billion in Chinese investment. Vietnam and Malaysia invested $246
million and $230 million respectively.
“We have observed that the
government is very open to investors,” Cambodia Chamber of Commerce
director-general Nguon Meng Tech said yesterday.
“Any foreign
investors wishing to invest here can get 100 per cent ownership without
partnering with local investors. Some other countries don’t offer this.”
Chheng Kimlong, an economics and business lecturer at the
University of Cambodia, echoed Nguon Meng Tech’s view, pointing to an
easing in customs clearance and paperwork fees.
But transparency
and the region’s highest electricity costs still limited the Kingdom’s
potential for attracting investors, he said.
“[The government]
still has much work to do regarding access to reliable information . . .
And our electricity tariff is still higher than Laos, Thailand and
Vietnam,” Chheng Kimlong said.
Cambodia recently inaugurated a
193-megawatt hydropower dam in Kampot province and plans to complete
several other power projects by 2016.
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