THE Ministry of Commerce registered 25 percent more foreign businesses in July compared to the same month last year, according to ministry statistics obtained yesterday.

Some 121 foreign firms registered in the Kingdom last month, most of which came from three Asian countries, according to the director of the ministry’s Registration Department, Hum Hean.

“China, South Korea, and Vietnam were the largest sources of the sharp increase in foreign business registration,” he said yesterday.

“An increase in companies from those three countries drove a 42 percent rise in total registration for foreign firms this year to the end of June.”

He said the number of foreign registrants had been increasing by an average of 35 percent each year during the last few years, and highlighted the 42 percent increase in the first six months of this year as a positive sign for Cambodia’s business community.

“Most foreign businesses are registering in sectors such as the agro-industry and tourism sectors,” he said.

A total of 339 foreign and domestic firms registered with the ministry last month, a 22.82 percent increase from the 277 registrations recorded in the same month last year, according to statistics obtained yesterday.