VN big investor in Cambodia
HA NOI — Viet Nam led other ASEAN nations in investments in Cambodia last year, contributing US$631 million out of the total $880 million invested by nations in the bloc, the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) reported on Thursday.
Malaysia came second with $235 million and Singapore third with $14 million, according to the CDC.
Viet Nam had 17 projects in the neighbouring country last year, focusing on rubber plantations and mining, while Malaysia mainly invested in real estate investment, garment-making and rice milling.
According to the Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia Economic Co-operation Development Association, Viet Nam has so far invested in more than 90 projects in Cambodia with a combined worth of over $2 billion. However, the association's vice chairman, Bui Tuong Lan, said the figure still fell below the potential for investments in Cambodia.
Cambodian encouraged overseas investment in agriculture, including cash crops like rubber and tea, as well as in banking, urban development, energy, and mining, all sectors in which Viet Nam had ample experience, said Lan, expressing hopes that Viet Nam's investment in the country could reach $6 billion by 2015.
Viet Nam also has an opportunity to boost trade with the neighbouring kingdom. According to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Cambodia, bilateral trade totalled about $2.8 billion last year, up 54.7 per cent over the previous year. Of the total, Viet Nam exported about $2.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 55.6 per cent.
Viet Nam's exports included garments and textiles, cables, home appliances, food products and electrical parts, while its main imports were rubber, wood and wood products, and raw materials for the garment and tobacco industries.
Chan Nora, secretary for foreign affairs of the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, said Vietnamese goods were popular in Cambodian market due to their good quality and reasonable prices. — VNS
"Silence is not necessarily golden"
