By Rachel Lee
The ASEAN-Korea Centre held a Cambodia-Korea Investment Forum at the Raffles Le Royal Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Feb. 2.
The forum, held in collaboration with the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) as part of the “Investment and Market Research Mission Dispatch program,” was designed to provide information on the investment environment and to explore opportunities in Cambodia.
ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Young-sun, CDC Secretary General Sok Chenda Sophea and Korean Ambassador to Cambodia Kim Won-jin gave welcoming speeches.
Sophea said he expected Cambodia to become an investment destination with the liberalization of regional logistics, more liberal movement of resources and labor between Cambodia and Korea along with the launch of the ASEAN Community.
The Cambodian government has being trying to attract foreign investment from the private sector since 1997.
Kim Won-jin said that more than 70 percent of Cambodians depended on agriculture for their livelihood, and the Cambodian government needed higher value-added industry, which required Korea’s experience.
He said Cambodia had a variety of advantages to attract investment, such as excellent weather, abundant water resources, a competitive workforce, and a lot of lands.
Delegates visited the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone and MH Bio-Energy, which produces bio-ethanol made from tapioca, and Golden Rice Cambodia, which produces Jasmin Rice, and the CP Cambodia pig farm.