Cambodia - Malaysian Businessmen Urged to Invest in Cambodia

The President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), a leading organization representing the private sector in the Kingdom, has urged Malaysian investors and businessmen to invest in and do business with Cambodia to forge a stronger relationship between the two Asean states.

Speaking at the Malaysia-Cambodia Business Dialogue on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Kith Meng, the president of the CCC and the owner of conglomerates with three television channels, dam development, banking and telecom businesses, said the CCC and MATRADE had worked together closely on trade and investment promotion and organized several expositions and business matching seminars to ensure the smooth flow of business and investment.

Mr. Meng said Malaysians were among the first to invest in Cambodia in 1993, while the two countries adopted an agreement for promotion and protection of investments in 1994.

“Since then we have been committed to enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation in economy, trade, investment, tourism and education,” he said.

As a result, Malaysia has consistently been ranked one of Cambodia’s top trade and investment partners. In 2015, Malaysian direct investment into Cambodia was $62.9 million, an increase of 61 percent compared with 2014. This made Malaysia Cambodia’s fifth largest FDI partner.

“I commend you for the excellent arrangement for today’s business dialogue for promoting economic and business relations between our two countries,” Mr. Meng said.

“I would like to encourage Malaysian investors to invest in Cambodia. You can use Cambodia as a production base to export your products throughout the region and to markets worldwide,” he added.

Hasan Malek, Malaysia’s new ambassador to Cambodia, told Khmer Times recently that in Cambodia, Malaysian companies are involved in telecommunications, banking, construction, garments, hotels, food and beverages, energy, entertainment and agriculture.

He said there were five Malaysian banks operating in Cambodia – Maybank, Public Bank, CIMB Bank, RHB Bank and Hong Leong Bank.

“The largest investments made by Malaysian companies were in the hotel industry, for example, the Naga Island resort. Other big investments were in the telecommunications, energy and banking sectors. The big players include Smart Axiata and banks like Maybank and Public Bank,” Mr. Malek said.

Mr. Meng said Cambodia was one of the fastest growing economies in the region and is strategically located within 90 minutes of most parts of Asean. Due to its close proximity,  Malaysians can choose Cambodia to be their production base for exports to regional and global markets.

“Cambodia can serve as a tax-exempt manufacturing and processing platform for such markets as the US,  EU, Canada and China,” he said. “I believe that we could do more to boost the exports figure through the mechanism of Asean and through existing bilateral channels that we have built up together over time.

“I would like to reiterate that closer relations between our business communities will make an important contribution to our mutual benefits,” added Mr. Meng.

Last year, the total trade volume between the two countries was about $388 million. Malaysian exports to Cambodia totaled $235.4 million and imports from Cambodia were $152.6 million, according to Mr. Meng.

May Kunmakara

Khmer Times