CDC approves $1.53 billion Singaporean investment projects

The figure was revealed during a webinar on Discovering Cambodia Insight into the Business Opportunities in Cambodia organized by CDC and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), on Tuesday.

The approved investment projects are from tourism, manufacturing, infrastructure and other industries.  Sok Chenda Sophea, secretary general of CDC, said during the event that the foreign direct investment (FDI) from Singapore into Cambodia has been a vital contribution to the fast recovery and development of the Kingdom' s economy.

The webinar was attended by approximately 150 participants from business communities that  Cambodia' s investment environment has been a cornerstone awaiting Singapore investments to tap on the vast potential in  Cambodia' s agri-food industries, services and other manufacturing sectors, said Chenda Sophea.

Chenda Sopha, who is also the minister attached to the Prime Minister, also emphasised the importance of Cambodia' s investment law that was adopted in October 2021, which incentivises investors to apply for responsible business conduct and inclusive business approaches in their investment and business practices.

Singapore Ambassador to Cambodia Teo Lay Cheng, who also attended the webinar, said Singapore is amongst the top five foreign investors in Cambodia in various industries such as real estate, energy, trading, distribution, food, consumer, education and finance. She added that the two countries also have enjoyed easy connectivity with 35 passenger services per week.  Cambodia is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia following a successful vaccination campaign, a return to earlier high levels of growth is anticipated, she said.

Sok Khoeun, Cambodia Ambassador to Singapore, said the economic diplomacy strategy for 2021-2023 launched in early 2021 is aimed at promoting trade, investment, tourism and culture to contribute to the economic development of the country and enhancing Cambodia' s interest regionally and internationally.

Cambodian diplomats have done their part and intensified their efforts to implement and promote such economic diplomacy to bring more investments and tourists to Cambodia, Khoeun said.


Extract from HLH AR2021 (Pg 12)

CAMBODIA-SINGAPORE AGRICULTURE HUB

On 16 June 2021, the Group is pleased to announce that the Group' s wholly-owned subsidiary, HLH Agriculture (Cambodia) Co., Ltd has secured the official approval from the Royal Government of Cambodia to convert its existing agriculture land into a mixed-use development land for the Group to develop the mega Cambodia-Singapore Agriculture Hub. The approval for the development of the Agri Hub will see the Group become the first Singaporean company to design, build and operate the largest state-of-the-art Agri Hub in Cambodia.

The Agri Hub which has a total land size of approximately 100,000,000sqm will be develop in several phases, in accordance with the master blueprint approved by the Royal Government of Cambodia. Under the phase one of the development which is slated to begin at Q4 of FY2021, the Group would commence the infrastructure upgrading works inside the Agri Hub such as the internal road networks, electrical cables as well as water supply.

The different zoning of the Agri Hub will include value added food processing factories, warehousing facilities and logistic hub, renewable energy (like solar power), livestock farms, construction material zone, plantation zone, aquaponics, water treatment facilities, light industry zone, commercial and community living concepts.  The Group will progressively launch each zoning of the Agri Hub under the different phases of the development to the market based on the progress of the phase one infrastructure works and further conclusion of any strategic partnership with new partners who are interested to set up their base inside the Agri Hub.

Located at Aoral District, which has the highest peak in the entire Kingdom of Cambodia, the land is 130m above sea level and surrounded by numerous industrial projects as well as other agriculture farms. It is approximately 100km from Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. The Agri Hub is currently a developed deforested land mainly being utilised for the Group' s Agriculture division that focuses on the fresh cassava plantation as well as starch processing for the local and export market prior to obtaining the conversion approval. It is also strategically located in between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville where the Kingdom' s only deep-water seaport is located. There are also several highways connecting the Agri Hub which go all the way to Thailand, Vietnam as well as Laos.