Officials seek to boost trade ties with Cambodia

PHNOM PENH -- A group of Chinese trade officials from South China's Shenzhen city has been visiting Cambodia to promote the bilateral trade and investment ties.

The group was led by Zhang Jinsheng, director of Shenzhen WTO Affairs Office.

Addressing a Shenzhen Economic and Trade Forum on Friday afternoon, Zhang said that the visit to Cambodia was to introduce Shenzhen's trade and investment potentials to Cambodian businesspeople and to explore Cambodia's investment potentials for Chinese investors.

The forum was attended by some 40 Cambodian and Chinese companies' executives.

Zhang also promised to encourage Chinese firms to look into business opportunities in Cambodia to contribute to strengthening and expanding bilateral ties between China and Cambodia.

At the forum, Yum Sui Sang, chairman of the China Hong Kong and Macau Expatriate and Business Association of Cambodia, said the event was very important to boost economic and trade ties between Cambodia and China's Shenzhen.

"The forum is an opportunity for Cambodian businesspeople to learn about the economic and trade potentials in Shenzhen and also a chance for us to tell Shenzhen officials about Cambodian potential sectors for investors," said Yum Sui Sang, who is also the president and CEO of the Union Commercial Bank.

The bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and China amounted to $2.5 billion in 2011, up 73.5 percent from a year earlier. The two countries' leaders vowed to double the volume to $5 billion by 2017.

On the investment side, during the first six months of this year, Cambodia attracted the investment of $141 million from China in the sectors of garment and textile industry and rice milling, according to a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia.

Shenzhen, bordering with Hong Kong, is located in Southern China's Guangdong province, which is known for its international business and trade.