Malaysian business leaders were encouraged to eye Cambodia for future investment at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, where hundreds of copies of a newly published Cambodian investment guide were distributed, a Commerce Ministry official said Tuesday.
Ten thousand copies of the Cambodian investment guide were produced and published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce.
Compiled by analysts from both organizations, it is being hailed as a comprehensive guide for doing business in Cambodia.
“The investment guide is not propaganda; it is the product of international organizations,” Commerce Ministry Secretary of State Sok Siphana said Tuesday after returning from Malaysia.
“If you are a CEO of a company, when you read the investment guide, you will have enough information to decide whether you want to invest in Cambodia or not,” he said.
Some 200 copies of the guide were distributed to potential investors at the meeting in Malaysia, Sok Siphana said. The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers is scheduled to visit Cambodia early next year, he added.
According to data from the Cambodian Development Council, in recent years, Malaysian companies have been the second- largest foreign investors in Cambodia after Chinese companies. Some 40 Malaysian companies have set up shop in Cambodia.
Between 2001 and 2002, Cambodian-Malaysian trade peaked at more than $70 million. In the first nine months of this year, trade between both countries stood at
$50 million.
Cambodia purchases industrial materials, machinery and food-stuffs from Malaysia, while Cambodia exports rice, agricultural crops, livestock and labor to Malaysia.
Sok Siphana brushed off concerns that the ongoing political stalemate was scaring away foreign capital.
“The government deadlock will not affect the feelings of investors. They only think about where they can make money,” he said. The political systems in China and Vietnam have not frightened investors there, he added.
Sok Siphana also said the UN-backed investment guide will help promote Cambodia throughout the region, particularly in Korea and China.
