Cambodia, Vietnam boost bilateral investment talks
IN A move that promises to strengthen regional cooperation and economic growth, Cambodia and Vietnam have initiated discussions aimed at bolstering bilateral investment and trade. The plans include a strategic meeting where financiers from both nations will come together to explore the Kingdom’s potential.
The remarks were made during a January 3 meeting between Sun Chanthol, first vice-chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), and Vietnamese ambassador Nguyen Huy Tang.
According to the CDC, the meeting focused on promoting investment and trade and arranging for Cambodian and Vietnamese investors to meet and explore opportunities in their respective countries.
The ambassador expressed his aspiration to boost investment and trade between the two nations and was optimistic about the prospects for Cambodian investments in Vietnam.
Chanthol highlighted the CDC’s role in facilitating government-toprivate investment and organising meetings for Cambodian financers to discuss potential investments with counterparts from other countries.
He also noted the possibility of creating opportunities for Cambodian and Vietnamese financers to meet, discuss and understand each other’s prospects.
Chey Tech, an independent socioeconomic analyst, was optimistic about the promotion, highlighting the mutual benefits for both countries as traditional neighbours and members of ASEAN and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
“However, I do not see much potential for Cambodian investors in Vietnam as Cambodia can export and process agricultural products there, due to Vietnam’s potential for technology, processing plants and a wide international export market,” he said.
“On the contrary, Cambodia offers considerable potential for Vietnamese investors in sectors such as energy, telecommunications, agriculture, agricultural technology, logistics, transportation, finance, banking, digital technologies, etc, presenting viable opportunities for Vietnamese investment in the Kingdom,” he said.
During Prime Minister Hun Manet’s state visit to Vietnam in December 2023, the two countries agreed to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion in the near future.
The initiative follows the achievement of approximately $11 billion in trade between Cambodia and Vietnam in 2022, spurred by the encouragement and facilitation of investor and business cooperation between the two nations, as per the CDC.