Viet Nam and Cambodia could bring their two-way trade value to US$7-8 billion by 2020 due to their already sound co-operation and efforts to remove difficulties for businesses, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

The PM was speaking at the Viet Nam-Cambodia Business Forum in Ha Noi on Thursday, which his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Techo Hun Sen also attended.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment reported Cambodia is always among the top three countries receiving investment from Viet Nam.

Vietnamese investors have so far poured $3 billion into 210 projects in agriculture, banking, telecommunications, IT, industry, processing and manufacturing, trade and healthcare in Cambodia. Many of them have contributed greatly to development in localities hosting their projects.

In turn, Cambodia has had 20 operating projects with nearly $65 million in Viet Nam, engaging in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and trade.

The two countries have been working to maintain high two-way trade value growth and expect the value to reach $5 billion this year, a volume previously set for 2020.

Viet Nam ranks second in terms of the number of tourists visiting Cambodia with about 500,000 people holidaying in the neighbouring country in the first 10 months of this year. Last year, 220,000 Cambodians visited Viet Nam.

Addressing the forum, PM Phuc said the two countries need to work more closely and more efficiently, with regional and global economic challenges on the way.

Once the two countries work with each other to tape their huge potential, they can bring mutual benefits for their peoples, he noted.

He urged the two countries’ businesspeople to make best use of the ASEAN economic community’s regulations on opening up to capital, commodities, labourers and services.

“The Government and Prime Minister of Viet Nam always support and provide all possible conditions to assist Vietnamese businesses to invest in Cambodia,” he said.

He reminded Vietnamese investors to provide training, transfer technology, realise their social responsibilities and protect the environment in Cambodia.

He asked big groups, like Viettel, PetroVietnam and Vietnam Electricity to pioneer in doing profitable business in the neighbouring country.

He expected the Cambodian government and Prime Minister Hun Sen will continue unlocking difficulties for Vietnamese investors to ease investment flow between the two countries.

PM Hun Sen hailed trade and investment co-operation between the two countries, saying the Vietnamese Government and PM managed the economy professionally, thus reining in inflation and aiding Cambodia’s economy.

He said Cambodia is pursuing a policy to develop industries, reforming administrative procedures in taxation and customs and calling for investments into deep-water seaports, highways and national roads to connect to ports and neighbouring countries.

Cambodia posts average GDP growth rate of more than 7 per cent and expects growth of 7.3 per cent this year. It is working to become a high middle-income country by 2030, he said.

The Cambodian government is revising laws relating to investment and working to adopt the law on special economic zones. It will modernise the customs and tax systems and encourage the development of smart cities and high-quality human resources, he told participants. — VNS