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China’s investment in Cambodia fixed assets dives amid downturn

August 12, 2009 at 5:14 am · Filed under China, Republic of Korea

China’s investment in Cambodia fixed assets dives amid downturn

Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Nguon Sovan
The Phnom Penh Post

The Kingdom eyes more diversified involvement from Japan, whose investment grew from zero last year to just under $5 million so far in 2009

FIXED-asset investment in Cambodia by China and South Korea plunged in the first half of 2009, while Japan’s fixed assets spiked during the same period, according to a report from the Council for the Development of Cambodia released earlier this month.

Chinese investments dropped more than 93 percent, and South Korean capital declined nearly 58 percent, the report stated.

Chinese investment by fixed assets in Cambodia dropped to US$242.43 million, from $3.86 billion during the first half of last year,” the report said. “Korea was down to $109.2 million from $258.09 million last year.”

Fixed asset investments by Japan during the same period, the report noted, hit $4.76 million in the first half of this year, up from nothing last year.

Yun Heng, deputy director of the Evaluation and Incentive Department at the Cambodian Investment Board, an arm of the CDC, characterised the decline in investments as the result of smaller-scale projects this year.

“When we look at the [Chinese and Korean] figures, it’s bad, but those countries still have a similar number of ongoing projects. They’re just smaller than last year’s projects,” he said.

Yun Heng said most of the South Korean investments related to real estate, agriculture and tourism, while Chinese investments focused on real estate, garment factories, mining and hydroelectric dams.

Japanese investment typically targets tourism, Yun Heng said, but added that Cambodia hopes to see this diversify into the IT and manufacturing sectors.

Lee Hyoung-seok, deputy director general of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, said Monday that it was inevitable during times of economic crisis that investments would drop.

“[Investment] has definitely dropped because of the global recession and the real estate downturn, so Korean investment opportunities in Cambodia are now smaller than they were two or three years ago,” Lee said. “Investors … are watching the economic environment before making further investments.”

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Cambodia passes $2.8b public investment plan

June 1, 2009 at 9:27 am · Filed under China

Source: (Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-01 11:41

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia’s Council of Ministers approved a three-year plan drafted by the Ministry of Planning to spend US$2.8 billion on public investment from 2010 to the end of 2012, national media reported on Monday.

The plan related to 536 projects, 389 of which are direct investment with the remainder technical assistance projects, the Cambodia Daily quoted the council as saying.

Minister of Planning Chhay Than said earlier that the majority of the budget would be spent on infrastructure and irrigation systems to boost agricultural production.

The list of planned projects also includes the construction of major roadways, hospitals and schools, Than said.

The new three-year plan is part of the broader national development planning strategy 2006 to 2010, which was approved by the National Assembly in May 2006.

The entire state budget approved for 2009 totals approximately US$1.9 billion, meaning that each year the proposed infrastructure projects would consume the equivalent of about half of the current national budget.

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China top investor in Cambodia in 2008

June 1, 2009 at 9:21 am · Filed under China

Source: (Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-05 10:27

PHNOM PENH — China was No. 1 foreign investor in Cambodia last year in terms of approved projects in Cambodia, nearly four times the capital of second-placed South Korea, national media on Thursday quoted official figures as saying.

China invested US$4.3 billion in 2008 in Cambodia, or 40.14 percent of the total, and South Korea US$1.2 billion, or 11.39 percent of the total, said the 2008 report issued by the Cambodian Investment Board.

The Chinese projects were in a wide range of sectors, including garments, hydropower, agribusiness and bodiless, while the largest Chinese investor was Tong Min Group Engineering with US$3.8 billion for a coastal development project in Kampot province, it added.

“The Chinese leadership encourages investors to come to Cambodia… (and) the Chinese government is pushing investors to come here,” Sok Chanda, secretary general of the Council for Development of Cambodia, was quoted by English-language newspaper the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

In addition, China expert Michael Sullivan said that close ties between the private sector and the government gave Chinese firms an advantage.

“This is all occurring within the context of emerging bilateral ties between China and Cambodia,” said Sullivan, who is conducting a research for the Association of Southeast Asian Studies under UK sponsorship.

In 2007, the Cambodian Investment Board put Malaysia as the foreign investment champion, with China and South Korea trailing behind.

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China to build $540m hydro plant in Cambodia -media

June 24, 2008 at 4:24 am · Filed under China

BEIJING, June 21 (Reuters) – A Chinese company will build a $540 million hydropower plant in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province to help ease a power shortage in the poor southeast Asian nation, China’s Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

The Stung Tatay project, to be built by China National Heavy Machinery Corporation, will take five years to complete. The company will operate the plant for 37 years and sell the power to the government, the report said.

After that, ownership of the plant will be transferred to the Cambodian government, it added.

China and Cambodia have close ties, and Beijing was a keen supporter of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that was toppled by invading Vietnamese troops in 1979. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Source:http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKPEK21739420080621

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Chinese companies to build hydro-power plants for Cambodia

June 24, 2008 at 4:17 am · Filed under China

PHNOM PENH, June 21 (Xinhua) — The China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CNHMC) has signed BOT agreements with the Cambodian government to build the Stung Tatay hydro-power plant in Koh Kong province, according to the Chinese Embassy here Saturday.

CNHMC will construct the project of 246 megawatts in five years at 540 million U.S. dollars, according to the agreements signed here Friday.

After the construction is completed, CNHMC can still operate the plant on the Tatay River for 37 years to generate electricity and sell it to the Cambodian government. When the BOT period terminates, the plant will be transferred to Cambodia.

The Cambodian government approved the project on June 13 in order to obtain more electricity, help maintain appropriate power price and promote economic growth and development of the country.

On the same day, the Cambodian government also gave green light for China’s Michelle Corporation to build the Stung Russey Chrum Krom hydro-power plant of 338 megawatts in the same province at 495.7 million U.S. dollars.

Both projects will also harmonize with the people’s living conditions there and the overall development of those areas, according to a government statement.

Cambodia has been in extreme shortage of power. Electricity even sells one U.S. dollar per kwh in some rural areas.

The government has been pursuing a strategy to develop hydro-power projects along the Mekong River to meet the desperate demand for electricity.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/21/content_8411431.htm

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$450 million investment agreement signed [with China]

June 4, 2007 at 8:03 am · Filed under China

$450 million investment agreement signed [with China]

Saturday, June 2, 2007
Everyday.com.kh

Translated from Khmer by Socheata
On 30 May 2007,

the Chineseprovince of Kwangsi signed an agreement with Cambodia on a plan for 4 investments amounting to $450 million. The 4 investments include:

  1. Development of new housing in Sihanoukville
  2. Construction of a new oil terminal in Sihanoukville
  3. Development of a potato plantation and a potato processing plant
  4. Construction of 16-kilometer of BOT (Build/ Operate/ Transfer) highway linking Phnom Penh city and the
    Phnom Penh international airport.

These 4 investments become effective immediately upon signature of the agreement.

http://www.ki-media.blogspot.com/

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