The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has announced that it approved 113 new investment and expansion projects with combined registered capital of about $1.1 billion in the first half of the year, of which 65.38 per cent came from Chinese investors.

This represents an increase of 15 projects but a drop of about $1.9 billion – or nearly two-thirds – from January-June 2022, according to a new CDC report.

Local investors accounted for 19.86 per cent of the registered capital for the six-month period. Next on the list of nationalities were Vietnam (6.64%), Seychelles (3.31%), Thailand (1.77%), South Korea (1.70%), Samoa (0.60%), the US (0.49%), Singapore (0.18%) and Sweden (0.07%).

These undertakings are expected to generate about 122,000 new jobs, the report said, adding that the industrial sector accounted for the most projects, at 102 (90.27%), followed by agriculture and agro-industry (7), tourism (3) and infrastructure and other (1).

The January-June 2022 total for registered capital was buoyed by a handful of major projects, such as Kampot Logistics and Port Co Ltd’s $1.300 billion International Multi-Purpose Logistics and Port Centre in Kampot province’s Bokor town, which some have projected to cost $1.5 billion.

Others include Cambodia Upper Tatay Hydropower Co Ltd’s $389 million 150MW dam in Thma Bang and Koh Kong districts of Koh Kong province and General Intelligence (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $297 million car tyre factory in Preah Sihanouk province’s Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ).

For comparison, regular CDC notices issued in January-June 2023 revealed that the council approved final registration certificates for 91 new private investment projects – both inside and outside of special economic zones (SEZ) – valued at a total $924.24 million and set to deliver an estimated 108,810 jobs.

However, these two totals – for registered capital and jobs expected to be created – were calculated by The Post using statistics that were provided individually. The actual totals may differ due to rounding.https://phnompenhpost.com/business/cdc-okays-113-projects-worth-11b-first-half