Asia Nutrition Technologies (ANT), a subsidiary of Taiwan-based livestock feed producer Great Wall Enterprise, will invest $7.5 million into developing an animal feed plant in the capital’s biggest industrial park.

ANT signed a long-term lease agreement early last month to operate a factory on 2.8 hectares of land in Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, Michelle Zhao, senior manager of Phnom Penh SEZ, said yesterday. Factory operations are set to begin in the first quarter of 2019 after a 14-month construction period.

Zhao said ANT previously exported its feed products to Cambodia from a factory complex in Vietnam, but would seek to take a greater stake in the Kingdom’s fast-growing market by producing the feed locally. The company joins two other animal feed producers in Phnom Penh SEZ, namely China’s New Hope and Thailand’s Betagro.

“Cambodia’s domestic market is growing fast as purchasing power increases,” said Zhao. “Thus [there are] more and more domestic-oriented manufacturers looking at Cambodian operations now, especially in the Phnom Penh area.”

According to Zhao, ANT will source the materials for animal feed both domestically and abroad to produce its three signature brands: Red Star, DaChan and Dr Nupak. The new plant will have an annual production capacity of 144,000 tonnes and is expected to employ 150 workers.

ANT is one of five companies to sign lease agreements with Phnom Penh SEZ since the start of the year. The activity has given a boost to the firm that operates the special economic zone, which has struggled to bring in new high-profile investors since listing on the Cambodian stock exchange in May 2016.

Phnom Penh SEZ was established in 2006 on 357 hectares and has a total of 88 registered tenants.