PHNOM PENH, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment of 3.46 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2022, up 3 percent from nearly 3.36 billion dollars in the same period last year, a Council for the Development of Cambodia's report showed on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian nation approved 150 investment projects during the January-September period this year, up 12 percent from 134 projects over the same period last year, the report said.

China remained the top foreign investor to Cambodia, followed by Thailand, Japan, Cayman Islands, Samoa, South Korea, British Virgin Islands, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, it said.

Investment projects had been focused on agriculture and agro-industry sectors, manufacturing, tourism and infrastructure among others, the report added.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact, the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) and Cambodia's favorable investment law are the key factors attracting more foreign investors, particularly Chinese ones, to Cambodia.

"Under these free trade agreements, made-in Cambodia products have been exported to China and other RCEP member countries with preferential tariffs," he told Xinhua. "Cambodia's successful control of the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccinations is also an attractive factor for investors."

He said both RCEP and the CCFTA, which entered into force on Jan. 1, 2022, have injected new impetus into Cambodia's trade and investment growth.

RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- and their five trading partners of China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said new investments would bring about new capital, technologies and job opportunities.

Speaking of Chinese investment, he said the ironclad friendship and the Belt and Road Initiative are also the main factors attracting more Chinese investors to the kingdom.

"Chinese investment is essential to help boost Cambodia's economy and create new jobs for Cambodian people in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era," he told Xinhua.

Senior economist Ky Sereyvath, director-general of the Institute of China Studies at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, agreed that both RCEP and the CCFTA are magnets to attract foreign investors to Cambodia.

"These free trade pacts will help Cambodia to quicken its economic recovery from the pandemic," he said. Enditem

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