The third Vietnam-Cambodia investment cooperation conference was held in
the southern province of Kien Giang under the co-chair of Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen.
The
conference was part of activities in the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship
Year 2012 and celebrations of the 45th anniversary of the two
countries’ diplomatic ties.
Addressing the event, Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung expressed his pleasure at developments in
Vietnam-Cambodia cooperation, especially in economics, trade, investment
and tourism.
The Vietnamese Government has taken measures to
facilitate operations of businesses in Vietnam , he said, adding that
Vietnam wants the Cambodian Government and ministries to create
further conditions for Vietnamese firms investing and operating in
Cambodia .
He suggested both sides continue maintaining regular
dialogue mechanisms between the two governments’ agencies in order to
timely ease difficulties and obstacles for their businesses and increase
investment and business activities, alongside accelerating investment
promotion to help firms seek partners and expand business.
The
Vietnamese Government, ministries, agencies and localities welcome and
create favourable conditions for Cambodian companies to invest and do
business in Vietnam as well as facilitate Vietnamese firms’ investment
in Cambodia , PM Dung affirmed.
For his part, Cambodian Prime
Minister Hun Sen stressed the significance of the conference, saying he
hopes it will contribute more to seeking new opportunities in
increasing and expanding economic-trade cooperation between the two
countries.
He briefed on Cambodia’s economic policies,
including those on foreign investment attraction, and affirmed that the
Cambodian Government will unceasingly build better investment climate.
Cambodia welcomes and encourages Vietnamese investors in particular
and foreign investors in general to Cambodia for long-term
cooperation, he said.
At the conference, leaders of ministries
and agencies discussed with representatives of businesses on latest
mechanisms and policies in attracting and managing foreign investment as
well as incentives for foreign investment offered by the Cambodian
Government. They also introduced Vietnam ’s policies to promote
Vietnamese investment in Cambodia .
The two government leaders
witnessed the signing of a protocol to amend and supplement the 2001
Agreement on Investment Encouragement and Protection between Vietnam
and Cambodia, creating a new legal basis for stepping up cooperation
and investment between the two countries in the coming time.
According to statistics
released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam is
operating 112 project, capitalised at over 2.36 billion USD in
Cambodia .
Two-way trade increased sharply from 1.2 billion USD
in 2007 to 2.8 billion USD in 2011. Both countries are targeting to
raise their trade value to 5 billion USD in the next five years.-VNA