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Chinese investment welcomed

Chinese investment welcomed

Updated: 2012-03-31 08:08

(China Daily)

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Cambodia welcomes Chinese financial companies to invest in the country, as the Southeast Asian nation plans to launch a stock market in April, Cambodia's top envoy in Beijing said.

Chinese investment and assistance has helped strengthen the cooperation between the two countries, Khek M Cai Mealy said in a written statement to China Daily.

"Cambodia needs assistance from China in all fields," she said ahead of President Hu Jintao's four-day visit to Cambodia, which starts on Friday.

China has been investing in several sectors, including infrastructure, agriculture, information technology and education.

But the ambassador said Cambodia's fledgling financial market can be a new focus.

Cambodia is seeking China's assistance in financial management, as the country will launch a stock market in April, a landmark move for Cambodia's financial industry.

"Advice and technical assistance (from China) are welcomed to help improve the operation of the stock market," she said, adding that China's experience in financial management will be helpful.

China launched its first stock exchange in Shanghai in 1990.

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Financial Minister Keat Chhon has said that Cambodia welcomes Chinese banks to open branches and help participate in the development of the stock market, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency.

According to statistics from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, 317 projects under construction in Cambodia with the total contract value of $8.9 billion at the end of 2011 received assistance from China, making it the largest investor in the Southeast Asian nation.

Bilateral trade surged to $2.5 billion in 2011, an increase of 73.5 percent from the previous year.

Good economic ties with China are in the interest of Cambodia, which is striving to improve the economy, said Song Yinghui, an expert on Southeast Asian studies with China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

"Geographic and cultural proximity" brings together China and Cambodia, Song said.

She refuted Western accusations that China aims to politically and economically control Cambodia by giving the nation economic assistance. "The accusation just does not make sense," she said.

(China Daily 03/31/2012 page7)