Chinese, Korean and local investors have shown interest in Meoun Chey border crossing in Prey Veng province’s Komchay Mear district between Cambodia and Vietnam, provincial officials said yesterday.

Komchay Mear district governor Prak Savann said the potential investors are looking for land in the area to develop garment and other types of factories.

Prak Savann said that since the border gate had been opened early last year, progress was slow owing to lack of infrastructure renovation, but because of road improvements on the Cambodian side of the border, Vietnam planned to begin building a bridge and improvements to their side of the area in the coming months.

Prey Veng provincial governor Ung Samy said that although the Meoun Chey gate throughput of goods was not as much as it could have been, it had indeed attracted the interest of local and foreign investors.

“Some investors have expressed interest in building casinos, factories and warehouses,” he said.

“Besides helping facilitate the throughput of goods and farming products, the border crossing will become a busy one for national and international visitors,” he said.

Nguon Meng Tech, general director of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said the opening of the new border gate will bolster the economic growth by increasing bilateral trade and attracting more investors to the border area.

“When a number of investors come to the border area, people will have more jobs, and they won’t have to leave their homes for work,” he said.

Nguon Meng Tech said foreign investors continued to look at Cambodia, especially in the agricultural sector.

The bilateral trade between Cambodia and Vietnam in the first quarter of 2012 totalled $919.11 million, increasing 42.58 per cent compared to same period last year, which totalled $644.62 million according to the data from the Vietnamese Business Office.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sieam Bunthy at [email protected]