Phnom Penh city at night (Source: Phnom Penh Tourism) Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodia drew in 414 million USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of 2016, lower than the same period last year.
The country’s Khmer Daily newspaper quoted a report by the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) saying that 45 FDI projects were granted licences during the period, including 36 industrial, five tourism and three agricultural projects.
China was Cambodia’s largest investor while Japan came second in terms of investment capital.
Domestic investment and FDI for the country totalled over one billion USD, a big fall from 2.8 billion USD in Q1 last year.
Meanwhile, the two sources of investment pumped 4.64 billion USD into projects in the country in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.
According to Senior Advisor to the CDC My Kalran, Myanmar opening up its economy and Cambodia’s neighbouring countries joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) might make the country look less attractive to foreign investors. The contraction was also partly due to the slowdown in the Chinese economy, he said.
Experts believe that to improve its competitiveness, Cambodia should cut electricity prices and give priority to developing human resources and infrastructure, as well as combating corruption.-VNA
