UK investment in Cambodian apparel sector to surge

Investments in the Cambodian garment sector from the UK are to get a boost as the UK Trade and Investment Office is set to open a permanent branch in Phnom Penh.
Traditionally, Cambodia’s clothing sector has attracted the largest chunk of UK investment. Last year, the UK was the only European country to invest in Cambodia.
During the past five years, bilateral trade between Cambodia and the UK have risen by more than 300 percent and it was worth US$ 400 million in 2011, as per the data available with the British embassy in Phnom Penh. In the first quarter of the current year, there has been a growth in bilateral trade by over 40 percent year-on-year.
The Phnom Penh branch of the UK Trade and Investment Office is being established in the expectation that the economic ties between the two nations would continue to grow at very fast pace. The office would facilitate business registration and will also produce market reports.
According to the data with the Cambodian Investment Board, the UK was the largest investor in Cambodia in 2011. The bulk of the US$ 2.2 billion money, however, came in the form of a single investment by a Cayman Islands-based company.
In 2010, UK investment in Cambodia was around US$ 10 million.
Meanwhile, Quantum Clothing, the UK’s biggest company in Cambodia, has inaugurated its third apparel factory with an investment of about US$ 10 million.