Australian Ambassador Justin Whyatt yesterday praised Cambodia’s
efforts to attract investors from other countries and evinced high interest in the ‘Funan Techo Canal’ project, which he said will be a historical achievement for the Kingdom.
The Ambassador made the remarks while paying a courtesy visit to Sun Chanthol, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), with a delegation comprising top embassy officials.
According to a press release, during the meeting, Cambodia’s initiatives to attract investors received a special mention from the Ambassador. He also praised the ‘Funan Techo Canal’ project which will boost Cambodia’s businesses.
In response, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the Royal Government of Cambodia’s efforts to attract investors. He said in 2023, Cambodia received 268 investment projects with an investment capital of nearly $4.9 billion, an increase from the $4 billion received in 2022.
In January 2024 alone, Cambodia received 32 projects, more than twice as much as in January 2023. Cambodia is also expecting more investment projects in the coming months, despite the global situation with many serious challenges, Sun Chanthol said.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that to reduce shipping costs, the Royal Government of Cambodia has launched a Comprehensive Master Plan On Cambodian Transit and Logistics System 2023-2033.
The Deputy Prime Minister briefed the Ambassador about the progress made on the ‘Funan Techo Canal’ project. He also spoke about Cambodia’s plans to have clean energy as 70 percent of its total energy mix by 2030.
It may be noted that over the last five decades, Australia has provided almost $2 billion in development assistance to Cambodia. A lot of these investments supported Cambodia’s early reconstruction efforts in the 1990s, including infrastructure, demining, agriculture, health and education.
In August last year, Australia released a new international development policy that sets out over 30 commitments to deliver a more effective, responsive, transparent and accountable programme.
Among its key commitments, the policy identified ambitious targets and action on climate change, gender equality, supporting locally-led development, and a reinvigorated approach to the country’s strategic planning.
Australia is also Cambodia’s biggest supporter in the energy sector reforms such as efforts to raise the share of renewable energy in the total energy mix.
It may be noted that Cambodia’s ‘Power Development Plan (PDP) 2022-2040’ proposed to substantially raise the share of renewable energy in the total power mix. The policy was formulated in tune with Cambodia’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Accordingly, the share of solar power in the total energy mix of Cambodia can reach 3,155 MW by 2040, bigger than the contribution from locally generated hydroelectricity which contributes most of renewable energy in the country now with a share of 45 percent to the total energy mix.
According to the PDP, Cambodia in 2022 has an installed solar power generation capacity of 432MW and by 2030 it will go up to 1,000MW and from there to 3,155 by 2040, indicating a proposed increase of nearly 800 percent over the period.
As per the plan, local hydropower will go up from 1,330MW to 1,560MW by 2030 and 3,000MW by 2040. Power from renewable biomass, another source of clean energy, will go up from 27MW in 2022 to 98MW in 2030 and 198MW in 2040.
