ERIA Research Team Meets with Cambodian Minister to Discuss CADP 2.0 and IDP

A team of researchers from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) met with H.E. Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister attached to the Prime Minister of Cambodia, to discuss ERIA's Comprehensive Asia Development Plan 2.0 (CADP 2.0) and Cambodia Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025 (IDP) on 4 November, 2016.

The team opened the meeting by sharing the findings of their visit to several projects that are located in Cambodia and listed in the CADP 2.0 as well as other projects related to the ASEAN Connectivity and Southern Economic Corridor of the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Afterwards, Minister Sophea conveyed how Cambodia plans to expand their economy under the three pillars of IDP, namely promoting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), attracting foreign direct investments (FDI), and improving innovation in the Cambodian economy. He emphasised the importance of developing the country's infrastructure to remove the bottlenecks that trouble many investors in Cambodia, such as developing power plants to ensure the supply of stable and more affordable electricity, improving multimodal transportation system, developing human resources, and building attractive Special Economic Zones (SEZ).

Minister Sophea stated that the government plans to develop several SEZs, especially around the border regions, in order to attract more foreign investors. The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) aims to attract companies that implement 'Thailand-Plus-One' and 'China-Plus-One' strategy to invest in Cambodia. The companies that use this strategy are expected to extend the supply chain network that they have built in Thailand and/or China to Cambodia.

In regards to the government's efforts to make the Cambodian economy more innovative, Minister Sophea stated that they are preparing a new Investment Law, which would provide incentives for pioneer status. The details of the incentives are currently being discussed by related ministries in the country.