Enhancing information provision and opening up investment opportunities in Cambodia for Vietnamese investors

Attending the event were Chea Vuthy, Secretary-General of the Investment Committee under the CDC; Tan Monivann, Vice President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), along with leaders of many Cambodian ministries and sectors. On the Vietnamese side, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Minh Vu, Chairman of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Business Association (VCBA) Oknha Leng Rithy, and a large number of business representatives from the two countries attended the dialogue.

In his opening remarks, Chea Vuthy provided an update on Cambodia’s investment attraction situation in 2025 and the first eight months of 2026. Chea Vuthy said that Vietnamese investment capital in Cambodia currently totalled more than 3 billion USD, while expressing his desire to attract more new foreign investors in the coming period.

Cambodia currently has a need for and prioritises attracting investment in the processing industry, particularly the processing of agricultural products in which the country has strengths, such as cashew nuts, rice and cassava, among others, and hopes Vietnamese businesses will pay attention to investment in these areas. The CDC is promoting investment in the establishment of industrial parks and economic zones in localities bordering Viet Nam, including northeastern Cambodia, with a range of investment policies and incentives.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Minh Vu highly appreciated the CDC’s initiative, in coordination with the VCBA and relevant agencies of the two countries, to organise the first direct dialogue between the Vietnamese business community and the CDC.

The Ambassador affirmed that within the overall framework of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability” between Viet Nam and Cambodia, economic, trade and investment cooperation is a bright spot and has been identified by the senior leaders of the two countries as a key area of cooperation.

Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu said that over the past period, the Embassy of Viet Nam in Cambodia had actively coordinated with the CDC, ministries, sectors, localities and the business communities of the two countries to implement numerous trade and investment promotion activities, including the Business Forum held on April 22, which was attended by more than 200 Vietnamese and Cambodian business delegates.

Against the backdrop of complex international and regional developments, the Ambassador stressed that Viet Nam and Cambodia need to strengthen economic linkages and connectivity, while expressing his wish for a new wave of investment by Vietnamese businesses in Cambodia to emerge soon, commensurate with the potential, advantages and good friendly relations between the two countries.

To realise this goal, Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu proposed that the CDC should not only continue supporting businesses in removing difficulties and obstacles during the investment and business process, but also proactively provide the Vietnamese business community with information on priority investment sectors and locations, economic zones, suitable land funds, preferential policies and a list of projects in Cambodia seeking investment, as well as strengthen investment promotion activities in Viet Nam.

The Embassy of Viet Nam and the VCBA stand ready to coordinate in bringing this information to Vietnamese businesses with the capacity and demand to invest.

Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu emphasised that providing good support to businesses already operating in Cambodia and helping them feel secure in expanding their production and business activities would create a spillover effect and attract more new investors from Viet Nam. The Ambassador affirmed that supporting the businesses already present today is also an investment in new projects for tomorrow.

VCBA Chairman Oknha Leng Rithy said that, towards the goal of achieving US$20 billion in bilateral trade, businesses of the two countries need to shift strongly from the mindset of “buying and selling goods” to “investment-production-value chain linkages”, promoting the complementary strengths of Viet Nam and Cambodia, particularly in agriculture, processing industries, logistics, trade and energy.

The VCBA called on businesses to increase direct investment in Cambodia, while proposing that the CDC continue to create even more favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses.

Sharing his views at the dialogue, Vice President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce Tan Monivann stressed the role of cooperation between the business communities of the two countries, expressing the desire for both sides to step up measures to promote trade. The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce stands ready to cooperate and participate in investment, trade and tourism promotion events, as well as connect businesses from the two countries.

At the dialogue, Vietnamese businesses directly discussed with the CDC and Cambodian authorities their plans to expand investment in the construction of a rubber wood processing plant, build a coffee processing plant, invest in coffee cultivation, and issues related to the environment and investment policies, as well as difficulties and obstacles encountered during project implementation; while also proposing solutions to expand investment and production and establish linkages between businesses of the two countries.

Chea Vuthy, Secretary-General of the Investment Committee under the CDC, and representatives of Cambodian ministries and sectors directly answered the businesses’ questions and took note of their opinions, while committing to provide responses in the coming period.

With the spirit of “Joining hands - Removing obstacles together - Connecting together - Developing together”, Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu proposed establishing a regular dialogue mechanism. Through this mechanism, the parties would work towards the broader goal of deepening and broadening connectivity and linkages between the Viet Nam-Cambodia economies, forming joint production and supply chains, promoting trade and creating a new wave of investment by Vietnamese businesses in Cambodia.