Cement imported from Thailand.

A Chinese company is aiming to invest in cement production in Cambodia, according to officials at the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy (MIME).

The China Triumph International Engineering Company (CTIEC) would become one of Cambodia’s biggest cement producers and would invest in the Kingdom, said assistant to the CTIEC president Ma Mingliang.

Although contracts for producing cement in Cambodia had been given out to various local companies, said Sim Sisokha, director of the Development Department at MIME, CTIEC’s proposed investments would be welcomed because some local companies lack the capital for large-scale production.

Investing in Cambodian cement production is risky, however, says Khov Phallabuth, a local investor in Kampot Cement Co, a joint venture with Thailand’s Siam Cement Group.

The country lacks the natural resources to produce large quantities of cement, he says.