Foreign investment in Cambodia’s property rises

Last Updated on 28 February 2013

By Siv Meng

 

Property experts say foreign companies are coming to invest in Cambodia’s property sector, as they see the growth and potential of the Kingdom.

Sung Bonna, director of Bonna Realty Group, said that the number of foreign companies in the sector has grown, and most are from South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and Malaysia.

Chinese companies started their investments earliest, while other foreign companies have been studying and doing research about Cambodia before investing here.

“The property investment companies growth rose a little bit during 2011-212 as it grew better during 2012 and early in 2013”, Bonna said, “After Cambodia hosted the Asean Summit, with world leaders joining the meeting, we see the inflow of foreign investors into Cambodia, but some of them, at the moment, have been doing research and considering about the possible investment in Cambodia”.

Despite the signs of more investment, Bonna warned that there are too many public holidays to make investors happy in Cambodian, a point which he is worried and focused on.

“Forty-five days into the year to so far, there have only been 25 work days, which is an important issue that Cambodia government should take care of.”

Kong Putheara, director of the statistics and information department in the Ministry of Commerce, said there are 347 international companies entering to invest in Cambodia’s property, in which 107 are from South Korea, 54 from China, 21 from Malaysia, France and the USA, 17 from the UK, 15 from Australia and Vietnam, 12 from Thailand, eight from Japan and 56 from other countries.

However, he didn’t comfirm the growth level of foreign companies investing in Cambodia.

Keuk Narin, vice president of Asia Real Estate Cambodia, said that since 2012, there have been many international companies investing in Cambodia’s property sector, in which investors are Malaysian, Singaporean and Chinese, and from the second quarter of 2012, there has been a greater inflow of Japanese companies in Cambodia.  

Cheng Kheng, director of the CPL real estate company and president of Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association, said now he was working with a concerned partner, so he do not want to say anything.

He said “the number of foreign companies investing and doing business in this sector has really increased but I don’t have specific figures. I have been working with the concerned parties to clearly get the figure in hand.”