The Cambodia Development Council (CDC) has approved more than $1.8 billion in investment projects during the first six months of this year, research by The Post has shown.
According to its calculations, the CDC’s data shows that during the period from January to this week, there were 102 investment projects approved, which can create up to nearly 130,000 jobs upon their completion.
The projects are mostly investments in garments, footwear, bags, hotels, commercial centres and entertainment venues.
Secondary projects include plastic manufacturing plants, medical equipment, solar panel components, rubber processing plants, fruit processing plants, toys, carton processing plants, construction material factories, agro-industry farms, husbandry, cigarette factories, yarn and electric wires.
The ongoing trade war between the US and China has made many foreign companies, especially Chinese-owned ones, search for manufacturing sites outside China to avoid tariffs imposed by the US.
A Nikkei Asian Review report earlier this month said 16 companies announced their relocation from China to Southeast Asia, of which 10 said they would go to Vietnam.
None of the companies approved by the CDC during the first six months of this year has confirmed whether or not they moved from China to Cambodia.
The largest CDC project approved early this year was the Tourism, Ecological, Marine and International (Temi) tourism city development project of Chinese-owned Union City Development Group Co Ltd (UDG) which is worth $500.4 million.
The project includes a five-star hotel, a commercial centre, a golf course, bungalows, villas, tourism resorts and amusement parks. It is located in Koh Kong province’s Kiri Sakor district and is set to create 5,150 jobs.
UDG is a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned real estate developer Wanlong Group Co Ltd.
In 2008, it received a 99-year lease approval to build Dara Sakor Seashore Resort – a project that consists of a casino and golf course within Botum Sakor National Park.
