Phnom Penh: Cambodia’s Council of Ministers met online on Friday to discuss the kingdom’s new investment law. The virtual meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who says peace and stability are a priority, if Cambodia is to attract more foreign investment. The draft law, the text of which has now been approved, aims to make it easier for investors in the kingdom, with incentives for certain sectors and a higher degree of flexibility.

The country’s new investment law was first mooted back in 2015, as part of the Royal Government’s Cambodian Industrial Development Policy Document. Minister attached to the Prime Minister, Mr. Phay Siphan, says consultations have been held with representatives of the private sector and other stakeholders. He says the draft law on investment is designed to create an open, transparent and predictable legal framework that attracts and promotes investment – both foreign and domestic. It’s also being designed to be flexible, with special incentives for specific sectors and those investments which contribute to national development.

During Friday’s meeting, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the law must give investors “easy access” to investing in the country. Critical to this, he says, is an environment of peace and stability that makes Cambodia an attractive prospect for potential investors, regardless of what he called the “international situation in the field of trade politics."

According to the Council for the Development of Cambodia, the first half of 2021 saw nearly $3-billion in investment, across 87 projects that are creating over 50-thousand jobs. The kingdom’s biggest investors hail from China, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan and Singapore.