Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Sen departed Vietnam on Saturday in order to attend a Vietnamese investor’s conference in Ho Chi Minh City. During this time, Cambodia and Vietnam has agreements with US$6 billion worth of investment into Cambodia to strengthen the cooperation in four sectors of commerce, tourism, energy and transportation.
The agreements were signed by Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh and Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc.
“We have the ambition and commitment to keep developing the investment atmosphere in Cambodia in order to promote it as the best in the region,” The Cambodia Daily quoted Hun Sen as saying.
The premier added that the passing of the investment law and the recent Council of Ministers approval of the anticorruption law, as well as Cambodia’s natural resources, showed that the country was ready for more investment.”
Sok Chenda, secretary general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the government’s key investment body, was quoted by the Post as saying that a memorandum of understanding promoting investment and cooperation between the two nations was inked at a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday to guide proposed investments from Cambodia’s eastern neighbor.
Vietnam is the Cambodia’s largest foreign investor in 2009.
The agreements between the two countries totaled $6 billion and will focus on power, food processing, fertilizer production, rubber plantation and health care sectors, according to State-run media Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on Saturday.
Hun Sen told the conference that the energy ministry issued the firm an exploratory licence for the project on December 23, adding: “Cambodia is receptive to local and foreign investment in all sectors, including banking, insurance and telecommunications – where many countries around the world do not allow 100 percent investments without entering into a national joint-venture agreement,” reported the Post.
Metofone, which is owned by Vietel, a subsidiary of the Vietnamese military, also expended a $40 million credit line to its mobile phone operator.
In addition, Prime Minister Hun Sen also welcomed the creation of the Vietnamese Investment Association in Cambodia.