Cambodian official says Chinese company plans up to $3 billion of investments

09/09/2010
AP

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A Chinese company says it will invest up to $3 billion in Cambodia's energy, property and metal processing sectors, according to an official.

Eang Sophalleth, an assistant to Prime Minister Hun Sen, said Thursday that the company's president Lin Xiang Wang unveiled the proposal in a meeting with the Cambodian leader.

The Chinese firm, Erdos Electrical Power & Metallurgical Co., plans to build a 700-megawatt coal power plant in the coastal province of Preah Sihanouk, said Eang Sophalleth. It also plans investments in real estate and aluminum processing for both the local market and export.

Electricity generation in Cambodia remains largely underdeveloped, with most power plants using fossil fuels. The impoverished Southeast Asian nation also buys electricity from neighboring Vietnam and Thailand.

Erdos, which is 25 percent owned by Japan's Mitsui & Co., did not reveal an exact timetable for its projects, but Hun Sen expressed his full support for the plans, Eang Sophalleth said.

Based in Inner Mongolia, Erdos is part of the Erdos Group, whose mainstay company is Erdos Cashmere Group Co., one of the world's largest processors of cashmere products.

China is a leading foreign investor in Cambodia, with some 349 Chinese companies mainly involved in agricultural projects, construction and dams, according to the Chinese Embassy.

China has provided millions of dollars in aid to Cambodia over the past decade, agreed to write off debts and granted it tariff-free status for some 400 goods.