Vietnam ’s business groups have over the past year revved up investment in Cambodia and actively contributed to the local social security programmes, said the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Cambodia (AVIC).

At a review meeting in Siem Reap city on July 25, the AVIC said Vietnam has become the third largest foreign investor in Cambodia , after China and the Republic of Korea .

According to statistics presented at the meeting, Vietnamese businesses were granted licences for 63 projects within the past year with a combined investment capital of 900 million USD.

Various economic groups and corporations in Vietnam have entered the Cambodian market, investing in different areas including telecommunications, finance and banking, air transport, agriculture, light industry, rubber and industrial tree planting, mining, energy and healthcare.

Prominent among Vietnamese investors are the Vietnam military telecom corporation (Viettel), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Vietnam Coal and Minerals Corporation (VINACOMIN), Vietnam Airlines and Hoang Anh Gia Lai group.

Asides from trade and investment activities, Vietnamese businesses have over the past year provided funding to the local social welfare schemes, with the total pledge mounting to 6 million USD.

As part of the move to promote Vietnamese investment in the country, the Bank of Investment and Development of Cambodia, a Cambodia-based affiliate of BIDV, launched a new branch in Siem Reap.

The BIDC has earlier set up two branches in Ho Chi Minh city and Phnom Penh in order to create a link between the financial markets of Cambodia and Vietnam and provide the most perfect financial services packages for Vietnamese enterprises wishing to invest in Cambodia./.