UK to open investment office

Friday, 18 May 2012 07:02 

The United Kingdom Trade and Investment Office would establish a permanent branch in Phnom Penh in the expectation that economic ties between the two countries would continue to grow, Cambodian and UK officials said yesterday.

Bilateral trade has risen by 300 per cent during the past five years and was worth about US$400 million in 2011, according to the British embassy in Phnom Penh.

It increased by more than 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.

The trade and investment office would produce market reports and assist in business registration, officials said.

Cambodia's garment industry has traditionally attracted the biggest share of UK investment.

Along with the trade-office announcement and a visit by Secretary of State for Wales Cheryl Gillan, Quantum Clothing, the UK’s largest company in Cambodia, opened its third garment factory here yesterday.

The factory investment was about $10 million, according to representatives at the embassy.

Officials and investors, however, are eyeing the potential beyond garments and construction, in which the UK has also invested.

UK ambassador to Cambodia Mark Gooding said British companies would look at education, construction and financial-services investments in the future.

Source: Phnom Penh Post 18 May 2012