The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has outlined highlighting successful investors in Cambodia will be key to attracting more quality foreign direct investment from Indonesia into the Kingdom.
Speaking at the 2022 Indonesian-Cambodia Investment Dialogue summit CDC Secretary General Sok Chenda Sophea welcomed more Indonesian firms to Cambodia and establish a business that had already been successful in their home country.
The comments were made at a hybrid event held at the CDC head office in Phnom Penh that hosted keynote speeches from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, the Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, representatives from the Indonesian Government and potential investors.
Cambodia welcomes more Indonesian firms
CDC Secretary-General Sok Chenda Sophea said in his opening remarks the two countries have been working towards the same direction since the 1960s under the non-aligned movement and welcomed the upcoming bilateral and multilateral summits in October and November.
“To Indonesian investors, I wish to invite you to visit Cambodia (we have no more quarantine). For those investors please do whatever you are good at in your home. If you have experience in agro-business in Indonesia you should not come here and invest in hospitality,” he said.
Indonesian Ambassador Sudirman Haseng stated the ongoing relationship between the two nations and the upcoming ASEAN summit – which Cambodia is chairing – referencing the Khmer phrase “a bunch of stick cannot be broken.”
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said more Indonesian companies are looking to expand in the region including Cambodia.
“I hope today can assist Indonesian businesses to understand more about Cambodia and the many sectors that are available for investment. Indonesia and Cambodia can continue to work with each other and the Indonesian government is ready to assist in the process,” he added.
Dalton Wong encompass successful foreign investment in Cambodia
IndoCham President and SpeedWind Distribution Executive Chairman Dalton Wong was one of the keynote speakers who told his story of first coming to Cambodia 13 years ago and the assistance he received establishing his business activities and partnerships.
SpeedWind Distribution is a business that operates last-mile distribution service for telecommunication products nationwide. We cover 25 provinces with 45 offices, servicing close to 30,000 dealers and merchants.
“Over the past 20 years, 13 of which were mainly in Cambodia, I have set up businesses and undertaken various investment and trading activities in many countries such as Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei,” Dalton said.
“But in terms of friendliness and in setting up a business and operating it, there is no country quite like the Kingdom of Cambodia. Its pro-business and pro-investment environment and policies have allowed many business ventures here to become successful, and I have been fortunate that several of my businesses are beneficiaries,” he added.
IndoCham has many success stories
Launched in 2021 the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia has been a signature project of the current Indonesian Ambassador and operates under the country’s national phrase Bhinneka Tunggal Ika “Unity in Diversity” (one is more).
Dalton outlined just a few of the members in the chamber including, in the pharmaceutical industry including Kalbe International and Dynamic Argon. In the heavy equipment and construction sectors UMG Cambodia.
In addition, visa application and process agency Khmer Rich Holding were highlighted and another member who is opening the first NOVOTEL in Sihanoukville under the same group who is also importing Electric Vehicles to Cambodia and operating a premium watch retail outlet.
Cambodia Investment Review has also previously highlighted several successful businesses already operated by the Indonesian business community in logistics, F&B, recreational activities, banking and renewable energy investment.
In 2020, the total trade volume reached $588.65 million, a decreases of 10.96% compared to the same period in 2019 ($661.11 million).
From 2016 – 2020, the trend of trade balance between both countries was on average 7.53%, based on the data from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia.