Foreign investment rises 73 pct
A mid [sic] global economic fragility, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cambodia grew a whopping 73 per cent in 2012 from the year before, a huge increase helping to fuel a record-setting amount of money pouring into least developed countries, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Released at the end of last week, the UN group’s World Investment Report says that FDI in Cambodia reached almost $1.6 billion in 2012, compared with $902 million in 2011, an increase largely credited to businesses looking to invest in the inexpensive, labour-intensive garment and manufacturing industries, as well as rising production costs outside of Cambodia. …
Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mauritania, Mozambique and Uganda drove much of the growth that amounted to a global FDI in least developed nations of $26 billion, according to the UN tally.
“[Countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam] are the emerging bright spots of the subregion, particularly for labour-intensive FDI and value chain activities,” the report said. …Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, said yesterday that FDI sources, other than the garment industry and manufacturing, include agriculture and tourism. …
It doesn’t take long to find the projects. Last December saw the ground-breaking ceremony of the Aeon Mall in Phnom Penh. The 68,000 square metre building worth $205 million is being built by Japan-based AEON Group.
Japan, alongside China and South Korea, is one of the top investors in Cambodia. …http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070166579/Business/foreign-investment-rises-73-pct.html
