South Korean firms seek investment in Cambodia

South Korean firms seek investment in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen South Korean companiesare seeking investment opportunities in Cambodia because of thelower labor cost in the country.

Kim Myung Su, chairman of Welfare Broadcasting Center Busan, wholed the delegation to Cambodia, said Wednesday that their missionwas to find out investment potentials and Cambodia's requirementsfor investors.

Some Korean companies have put their attention to Cambodia andVietnam, which, they believe, have better investment climate, hesaid.

The 13 firms are engaged in machinery industry, electronics,broadcasting, pharmaceutics, agriculture and auto-trade industry.

He said that the investors have shown interest in theconstruction of a leisure resort in the coastal area ofSihanoukville, cable TV, internet TV broadcasting, and car assemblyfactory.

During a presentation to the delegation about the investmentpotentials in Cambodia on Wednesday at the Council for theDevelopment of Cambodia (CDC), the Deputy Secretary General of theCDC's Cambodian Investment Board, An Sophanara, said that Cambodiahas favorable policies for the investment in agriculture,agro-industry, transportation and telecommunications, energy,manufacturing industry, tourism, oil and gas and mining.

"Moreover, the government has laws and regulations to protectinvestors and a lot of incentives for investors such as tax holidayup to nine years for investors," he said.

"We treat foreign investors the same way we treat our localcompanies," he said.

He said that foreign companies can hold 100 percent of the sharein Cambodia, except the land ownership that the foreign investorscould possess only 49 percent and it needs to partner with a localcompany to hold 51 percent.