The Council for the Development of Cambodia’s (CDC) three notices issued in July indicate that the government’s highest decision-making body for large-scale investments approved eight projects – half of them in garments – with capital commitment of over $117 million, expected to create 7,917 new jobs.

The most valuable of the four garment factories was Best Beauty Co Ltd’s $5.1 million project in Kandal province’s Takhmao town, which is anticipated to deliver 2,236 new jobs.

The other three were those invested by Xin Mei Da (Cambodia) Garment Co Ltd ($3.6 million; Meanchey district, Phnom Penh; 997 jobs), WL Wei Lian Garment Co Ltd ($3.1 million; Samrong Tong district, Kampong Speu province; 1,220 jobs) and Xin Jin Wei Garment (Cambodia) Co Ltd ($1.5 million; Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone [SSEZ], Preah Sihanouk province; 550 jobs).

Two other projects were L-Q New Energy Co Ltd’s $84.5 million solar panel factory in Kratie province’s UBE Snoul Special Economic Zone; and Milanna Leatherware MFY (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $9.2 million belt and bag factory in Kampong Speu’s Kong Pisei district, which plans show will generate 1,000 and 1,414 jobs, respectively.

The remaining two ventures were Eastcam Casting Co Ltd’s $5.8 million steel pipe processing factory in Bavet town’s Shandong Sunshell (Svay Rieng) Special Economic Zone; and Mega Hardwood Co Ltd’s $5 million plywood and plank board factory in SSEZ, which are to bring in 200 and 300 new jobs.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng told The Post that Cambodia was experiencing a steady uptrend in investment across all sectors, including light, medium and heavy industries.

He credited this trend to stable politics, favourable conditions provided by the new Law on Investment, a diverse skilled labour force, improving transportation routes and availability of a deep sea port, a relatively large export market and a range of preferential arrangements offered by trading partners, as well as the full spectrum of trade-related agreements Cambodia has struck with many countries.

Heng also suggested that the high Covid-19 vaccination rates in the Kingdom have given investors the confidence to come and invest.

“In this context and in the future, Cambodia will continue to receive more investment, and new ventures in medium and heavy industries will be available,” he said, noting that the number of carmakers and electronic product and component manufacturers in the Kingdom, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, were on the rise.

And the money pouring into the Cambodian manufacturing and processing industries is fuelling economic growth and propelling goods exports across the globe. In the first half of 2022, the Kingdom exported goods to international markets worth a total of $11.379122 billion, rising by 33.9132 per cent from $8.497387 billion on a yearly basis.

Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, remarked that most of the new investment projects nowadays are in more lucrative areas, signalling a shift desired by “every country”, from labour-intensive industries to those based on advanced skills and technologies, which he said are better able to provide benefits for the economy and towards greater sustainability.

Although these new breeds of investment could provide much-needed economic impetus, Vanak cautioned that the Cambodia must find a way to reduce the cost of domestic production for enough projects to materialise and get the ball rolling.

“As more investment projects with larger capital investment enter the market, Cambodia needs to make more efforts to reduce bureaucracy and find new ways to develop a more skilled workforce,” he said.

According to The Post’s calculations based on CDC notices issued in January-July, the council has approved 95 projects with total capital investment of roughly $2.90318 billion – plus or minus $5.11 million to account for rounding – which are expected to deliver 80,436 jobs.