Cambodian PM greets large group of Chinese businesspeople

Souce:Xinhua 
Publish By Thomas Whittle
Updated 01/03/2013 

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 28 — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday met with a large group of Chinese business executives visiting Cambodia to explore investment opportunities.

The delegation, comprised of 100 people from 52 Chinese companies, is led by Xiao Gang Chang, President of China International Travel Services.

Speaking to those investors during a meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, Hun Sen said Sino-Cambodian relationship was founded for a long time and it has been gradually strengthened and expanded.

To date, he said, the Sino-Cambodian relationship has reached the level of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation.

The premier said China has helped Cambodia in all fields including road and bridge construction, irrigation system development, and human resources development.

In addition, Chinese investors have invested in various businesses in this Southeast Asian nation, especially the investment in the development of hydroelectric plants and coal- fueled power plants.

“Cambodia has a great honor to be a friend of China,” the premier said. “China has helped Cambodia not only to develop the society, but also to strengthen Cambodia’s independence.”

He said currently, a lot of Chinese investors have been doing businesses in Cambodia; however, the country still needs more Chinese investors to promote stronger economic ties between the two countries.

According to a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, China is Cambodia’s largest investor. From 1994 to 2012, Cambodia had received 9.17 billion U.S. dollar investment from China.

Hun Sen recalled that during the visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao to Cambodia at the end of March last year, he and Hu vowed to boost the bilateral trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars by 2017 from 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.

“Private investment plays a very important role to help the two countries to achieve this target,” he said.

Meanwhile, the premier encouraged those businesspeople to consider investing in manufacturing industries in Cambodia in order to export finished products to China, saying that China has offered a 95-percent-tax exemption for Cambodia-made products.

He also told them to mull investment in tourism, saying that Cambodia and China have much room to grow in tourism industry.

According to a tourism report, some 333,900 Chinese tourists visited Cambodia last year, a 35 percent year-on-year, making China the 3rd largest tourist arrival group to Cambodia.

Xiao Gang Chang said the delegation’s visit is to seek investment possibilities in Cambodia. During the stay, the delegation will explore business opportunities in Phnom Penh before going to visit special economic zones in Sihanoukville; then, continuing their trip to Siem Reap province.