This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia, and it is also the Year of China-Cambodia Friendship. In February this year, when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited China, China and Cambodia proposed to jointly create a "diamond six-sided" framework cooperation framework, which opened a new chapter in the relationship between the two countries. A few days ago, Jiang Guofeng, Director of the Enterprise Development Fund of the Ministry of Finance and Economics of Cambodia and the General Planning Secretariat of Sihanoukville Demonstrative Multifunctional Zone, said in an interview with the Economic Daily reporter that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to China has brought new opportunities for China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation. It will be further expanded, and the secretariat undertakes the dual tasks of promoting enterprise development and the overall planning of the Sihanoukville Demonstration Multifunctional Zone, which is of great significance to the construction of Cambodia's "Industrial Development Corridor". Jiang Guofeng said that as the head of the secretariat and Cambodian Chinese who understand the language and culture of China and Cambodia, they will give full play to their role as a link and pave the way for deepening China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation.
Jiang Guofeng said that the entry into force of the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) and the "China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement" has brought great opportunities for China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation. In the first five months of this year, the trade volume between China and Cambodia reached US$5.075 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.7%. Among them, Cambodia's export trade volume to China was US$588 million, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, and Cambodia's import trade volume from China was US$4.487 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%. With the overall decline in demand from the United States and Europe, the Chinese market is particularly important to Cambodia. China has successively approved a variety of Cambodian high-quality agricultural products to enter the market, which has played an important role in promoting bilateral trade. China has been Cambodia's largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years.
In addition, China is also the largest foreign investor in Cambodia. In 2022, investment from China will account for 42% of all foreign investment in Cambodia. In the first quarter of this year, the proportion of China's investment in Cambodia's foreign direct investment will be as high as about 70%. The in-depth implementation of relevant projects related to the "Belt and Road", especially the continuous advancement of key infrastructure construction such as highways, international airports, and ports, will provide broad opportunities for Chinese companies to invest in Cambodian agricultural product processing, logistics warehousing, real estate, tourism and related industries. prospect.
"The China-Cambodia Friendship Year has carried out many bilateral people-to-people and cultural exchanges, which are very important to promote in-depth cooperation between the two countries." Jiang Guofeng said that he himself has received Chinese language education, and he has visited China many times before the epidemic, and he deeply feels the understanding The importance of Chinese language and culture in attracting Chinese investment. Recently, Jiang Guofeng led the Secretariat team to visit Hangzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing, Nanning and other places, held discussions with local governments and more than 20 entrepreneurs, and promoted the overall planning of Sihanoukville Demonstration Multifunctional Zone and Cambodia’s preferential policies for foreign investment. They exchanged extensive views on cooperation in cold chain logistics, agricultural product processing, food processing, petrochemical, textile and chemical fiber and other fields.
Jiang Guofeng pointed out that the extensive contact with Chinese enterprises has promoted the connection between his enterprise development fund and the business departments and entrepreneurs of relevant provinces in China. Through face-to-face communication, he was deeply impressed by the high standards, fast pace, and extremely resilient corporate culture of Chinese companies, which is worth learning from in Cambodia. Cambodia should actively meet the needs of Chinese enterprises in terms of future policy planning and system implementation, attract more Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Cambodia, and promote China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation to a new level.