As Singapore was ranked the third largest foreign investor in Cambodia between 2018 and 2023, both countries’ leaders have mulled over deeper economic and trade cooperation.
The commitment was underscored during the official visit of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia, to Singapore from June 18-19, 2024.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said this official visit was concluded with fruitful outcomes.
On fostering trade and investment, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet and his Singaporean counterpart H.E. Lawrence Wong highlighted the fact that Singapore is among the largest investors in Cambodia and the complementary nature of the two economies.
The two Prime Ministers agreed to encourage relevant public and private entities of both countries to jointly identify potential areas for win-win cooperation, starting with food production and supplies.
On people-to-people exchanges, both leaders expressed satisfaction with the increase of direct flights to 50 per week and the growing number of travellers between Cambodia and Singapore. They shared the view that encouraging tourism flow, including those from third countries is another area to be intensified.
On energy and climate change, the two Prime Ministers applauded the fruitful outcome of the first working group meeting, co-chaired by the Energy Ministers of Cambodia, Singapore, and the Lao PDR on May 29, 2024, to facilitate cross-border electricity trade. They shared resolve to leverage the success of this project to drive the development of the ASEAN Power Grid. They were pleased with the progress on carbon credit cooperation in line with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and look forward to the signing of the implementation agreement at an early date.
The two Prime Ministers emphasised the growing importance of ICT and digital technology cooperation. They jointly witnessed and applauded the official launch of the Financial Transparency Corridor initiative by the National Bank of Cambodia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which aims to establish supporting digital infrastructures to facilitate trade and financial access for SMEs in Cambodia and in Singapore.
According to the National Bank of Cambodia, from 2018 to 2023, Cambodia had attracted a total of US$48.4 billion foreign direct investment, while Singapore is the third largest investor, behind China and South Korea.
