The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) assured the American companies keen on investing in the Kingdom to work closely with the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) through the Qualified Investment Project Registration (QIP Online), an online platform created to enable investors to submit investment proposals.
The assurance was given by Sun Chanthol, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice-Chairman of CDC on Wednesday during a discussion with the delegation from the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) and representatives of US firms led by W. Patrick Murphy, US Ambassador to Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
The US-ABC delegation requested Chanthol to facilitate the existing and upcoming investments, trades and business operations of US firms in the Kingdom to which the Deputy Prime Minister responded immediately the readiness of the CDC through the QIP Online, a system created to facilitate investors fairly.
He informed the delegation on the direction of diversifying investment portfolios from other countries, as the Kingdom has investment laws that are open to all investors, whatever race or nation they came from such as the US, China, Thailand or Japan firms.
He also highlighted the Comprehensive Intermodal Transport and Logistics System Master Plan 2023-2033 (CITLS) which included 174 projects of both soft and hard infrastructures that need a total investment budget worth about $36.6 billion for the next 10 years.
During a joint press briefing with Jim Jones, CEO of Jones Group International at CDC, Chanthol said that RGC welcomes investors from any country including the US firms. “We want to see more US investments coming into our country and developing human resource capacity and the logistic infrastructures thanks to peace and economic stability in the country,” he said.
He emphasised that the current RGC under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Manet is a pro-business government that focuses on facilitating investments and businesses in the country hence CDC has listed out several strategies such as the expansion of infrastructure and logistic master plan to reduce the transportation cost.
Further, CDC is improving the QIP online, a system that allows businessmen to apply for investment registration without the need to submit tonnes of paperwork and documents, making the process of registration, check and approval more convenient, he said.
He went on to add that the presence of the US firms today served two purposes, one is to explore potential investment opportunities in our country and to witness if RGC truly welcomes and facilitates their business operations or if we prefer and depend on Chinese investments only.
In fact, the Premier has confirmed many times on stage and in paperwork that every investor coming from any country will receive equal opportunities and support from the government from A to Z, the Deputy Prime Minister added.
Jim acknowledged that the progress of the development in Cambodia is admirable and Prime Minister Hun Manet is indeed a graduate of a US university which makes us have a lot in common and easier to understand the needs of each other.
When asked by the media about the relationship between the US investments and the political interest of Cambodia-US, Jim said that he is not a politician but normally trade and investment are the keys aspect that retires the two-country friendship as it opens the door for leaders to develop trust, confidence and personal relationship hence from that point on, every discussion is possible, he explained.
As the media turned to Chanthol, he said that the Cambodia Investment Law does not discriminate against any foreign investments hence everyone will be treated equally under the law.Recently, CDC received a lot of investments from China and that is true however, we can not say no to them and wait for US investments. “We want investments from every country as you witnessed the Premier’s official trip to attract foreign investors in Japan, China, France, Thailand and Malaysia and further he will go to Australia next week,” he added. khmertimeskh
