PHNOM PENH, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia approved 346 fixed-asset investment projects worth 5.5 billion U.S. dollars during the first 10 months of 2024, generating over 266,000 jobs, said a Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC)'s report on Tuesday.
The new projects were mainly focused on garment, travel goods, and footwear sectors, hotel development, hydroelectric power station, freshwater port, solar power plants, lighting and accessory factories, agriculture, amusement park, car tire plants, special economic zones, and infrastructure, among others.
In October alone, the kingdom attracted a total of 31 investment projects worth 226 million dollars, which were expected to create about 16,000 jobs, the CDC said.
China was still the biggest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian country, it added.
Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), together with Cambodia's favorable investment law, are the major factors in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country.
"Both RCEP and CCFTA are magnets for foreign investors to Cambodia," he told Xinhua. "FDI, particularly from China, is crucial to helping boost Cambodia's socio-economic development, trade growth, and poverty reduction." ■