Cambodia seeks to boost investment from Australia

A group of domestic stakeholders gathered in an orientation to Cambodia Business Delegates “Agribusiness, Trade, and Investment Mission to Australia” programme organized by the Innovation and Development Investors Association (IDI) last Friday.

This program was designed to provide input and recommendations related to the above mission to the delegation that is scheduled to attend in Melbourne from March 5-7, 2024.

Suon Sophal, Deputy Secretary General of Cambodian Investment Board at the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), spoke highly of a program initiated by IDI, businessmen and domestic investors in organizing the business mission in conjunction with the preparation of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

“The delegation in the upcoming mission will work with the relevant ministries and institutions to attract investment partners from Australia to invest in Cambodia as well to promote the export of semi-finished and processed Cambodian products, especially in the agro-food sector to Australia,” Sophal said.

The orientation program was attended by some 30 representatives from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, the Ministry of Commerce, the IDI and the private sector.

The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit is scheduled to take place in March in Melbourne, Australia aimed to provide the Australian government with an opportunity to improve its standing with Southeast Asian states.

Prime Minister Hun Manet will visit Australia for the first time as national leader to take part in the March 4-6 Australia-ASEAN Special Summit in Melbourne.

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce is also planning to take part in the Prime Minister’s visit to Australia.

According to its vice president Lim Heng, a business forum is planned to be held in March during Prime Minister Hun Manet’s Australia visit in March.

“The forum is aimed to promote businesses and investment opportunities in Cambodia to potential investors out there in order to attract flow of investment to Cambodia,” Heng said on Sunday.

Australia is viewed as one of the largest recipients of Cambodian goods in the world, and are potential investors in Cambodia, he said.

Figures from the General Department of Customs and Excise showed that the bilateral trade between Cambodia and Australia amounted to $502 million in 2023, inching up 1.05 percent over that in 2022.

Source:Khmer Times