A South Korean firm said yesterday it planned to invest as much as US$3 million in a light bulb factory in Cambodia and may supply Phnom Penh’s streets with LED lamps.

SP Semiconductor and Communication, an electronics firm, would build the factory next year in Sihanoukville province, director of research and marketing Lee Si-kyung said.

The company recently opened an office in Cambodia country and would target big businesses with the power-saving bulbs. Although the company would begin operations in Cambodia with light-bulb assembly, there was potential for parts manufacturing in the future, he said.

If approved by the government, SP could supply all of Phnom Penh’s 8,000 street lights with LED bulbs, Lee Si-kyung said, adding that the project would be worth as much as $13 million.

The company will submit a proposal for the project to the government in the next few months.  Cambodia needed more lighting products and welcomed SP’s plans, Sat Samy, secretary of state at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said yesterday.

“Today, we are pushing this company to build a factory for assembling. After there is sufficient electricity and water supply, they can manufacture light bulbs for domestic use and for export,” Sat Samy told the Post.

Prak Min, secretary-general at the Board of Engineers of Cambodia, said the firm would bring new technology and jobs to Cambodia’s manufacturing sector.