28-12-2009
VNS (Hanoi)
HCM CITY — Viet Nam and Cambodia signed deals worth US$6 billion at a conference held in HCM City last Saturday to promote Vietnamese investment in Cambodia.
Held by the Cambodian Development Council and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, the conference brought together 500 policymakers and business executives from the two countries under the chairmanship of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen.
Under the various agreements signed at the conference, Viet Nam will invest in electric generation, food processing, fertiliser production, rubber plantation and bauxite mining in Cambodia.
"This is a huge investment from the Vietnamese side," said Dung, noting that the country’s total investment in 50 countries was just $7 billion.
"The Vietnamese Government is committed to creating favourable conditions for domestic businesses to invest in Cambodia," Dung said.
Vietnamese businesses have invested in over 60 projects in Cambodia with a total capital of nearly $900 million, making Viet Nam among the top three foreign investors in Cambodia.
Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Corporation, vowed to further step up investment there, noting that his corporation was currently farming 20,000ha of rubber in Rattanakiri Province and mining ore at a total investment of $100 million.
"We have also built villages, roads, and schools in areas that we invest in apart from providing $4 million to set up a soccer academy."
Hun Sen said Cambodia was calling for foreign investment in its areas of strength, such as agriculture, forestry, industry, infrastructure, processing, mining and tourism.
Cambodia would create a favourable investment environment for Vietnamese businesses to operate in the country, Hun Sen vowed.
"On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I guarantee Vietnamese investors lots of preferences," he said, noting that Cambodia allows investment even in some sensitive sectors like banking, insurance, and media not yet fully open in other countries.
Dung hailed the efficiency of Vietnamese-invested projects in Cambodia but said that the results have not yet matched the potential of both countries nor lived up to people’s expectations.
At the conference, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Cambodian Development Council signed a memorandum of understanding on investment promotion.
The Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade and the Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy also signed the minutes of their meeting regarding bauxite exploration and exploitation in the Cambodian province of Mondulkiri.
The Bank for Investment and Development of Cambodia (BIDC), which opened its HCM City branch over the weekend in the presence of Dung and Hun Sen, also signed commitments to provide financial services to Vietnamese businesses investing in Cambodia.
The branch was part of BIDC’s strategy to expand into a major financial source for Vietnamese investors and businesses operating in Cambodia.
The Phnom Penh-headquartered bank was launched last July with charter capital invested by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam.
BIDC president Tran Thanh Van said at the opening ceremony that the new branch was expected to serve as a payment channel connecting the economies and banking systems of the two countries.
Held by the Cambodian Development Council and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, the conference brought together 500 policymakers and business executives from the two countries under the chairmanship of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen.
Under the various agreements signed at the conference, Viet Nam will invest in electric generation, food processing, fertiliser production, rubber plantation and bauxite mining in Cambodia.
"This is a huge investment from the Vietnamese side," said Dung, noting that the country’s total investment in 50 countries was just $7 billion.
"The Vietnamese Government is committed to creating favourable conditions for domestic businesses to invest in Cambodia," Dung said.
Vietnamese businesses have invested in over 60 projects in Cambodia with a total capital of nearly $900 million, making Viet Nam among the top three foreign investors in Cambodia.
Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Corporation, vowed to further step up investment there, noting that his corporation was currently farming 20,000ha of rubber in Rattanakiri Province and mining ore at a total investment of $100 million.
"We have also built villages, roads, and schools in areas that we invest in apart from providing $4 million to set up a soccer academy."
Hun Sen said Cambodia was calling for foreign investment in its areas of strength, such as agriculture, forestry, industry, infrastructure, processing, mining and tourism.
Cambodia would create a favourable investment environment for Vietnamese businesses to operate in the country, Hun Sen vowed.
"On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I guarantee Vietnamese investors lots of preferences," he said, noting that Cambodia allows investment even in some sensitive sectors like banking, insurance, and media not yet fully open in other countries.
Dung hailed the efficiency of Vietnamese-invested projects in Cambodia but said that the results have not yet matched the potential of both countries nor lived up to people’s expectations.
At the conference, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Cambodian Development Council signed a memorandum of understanding on investment promotion.
The Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade and the Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy also signed the minutes of their meeting regarding bauxite exploration and exploitation in the Cambodian province of Mondulkiri.
The Bank for Investment and Development of Cambodia (BIDC), which opened its HCM City branch over the weekend in the presence of Dung and Hun Sen, also signed commitments to provide financial services to Vietnamese businesses investing in Cambodia.
The branch was part of BIDC’s strategy to expand into a major financial source for Vietnamese investors and businesses operating in Cambodia.
The Phnom Penh-headquartered bank was launched last July with charter capital invested by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam.
BIDC president Tran Thanh Van said at the opening ceremony that the new branch was expected to serve as a payment channel connecting the economies and banking systems of the two countries.
