The 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, held in Phnom Penh from November 8-13, are being touted as a great opportunity to showcase recent development in Cambodia and help position the country as a regional vibrant and rewarding investment and business hub, with members of the local business community optimistic that the Kingdom will make a powerful impression on regional and global business leaders and investors.

Hosted by the Kingdom, which is leading ASEAN this year under the theme “ASEAN ACT: Addressing Challenges Together”, the six-day series of events brings together US President Joe Biden, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, and other leaders of the bloc’s member states and dialogue partners, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed in a statement.

The summits aim to provide policy recommendations and other solutions to navigate the current perfect storm of challenges, driven by geopolitical competitions and tensions coupled with economic uncertainty, the statement noted.

Speaking to The Post, ACLEDA Bank Plc president and group managing director In Channy commented that the event will most likely translate into exceptional gains for Cambodia in the hospitality and service sectors, at least in the short term, reasoning that delegates and their staff, spouses and accompanying persons will experience a variety of hotels and restaurants, and visit Angkor Archaeological Park and other interesting tourist attractions.

The rotating ASEAN chairmanship for this year creates great avenues to promote Cambodia to the outside world as a worthy investment destination, acting as “open eyes” for players, he said.

“They may see directly many business opportunities in Cambodia for their investment and expansion”, and plan future visits, Channy added.

Anthony Galliano, group CEO of financial services firm Cambodian Investment Management Co Ltd, similarly pointed out that the ASEAN chairmanship offers a “fantastic opportunity to showcase the incredible social and economic progress of the Kingdom”.

“The last time Cambodia held the chairmanship was 2002 and world leaders will now be visiting a vastly changed and different country, one which has prospered in the last two decades, with Phnom Penh now a thriving modern city with much improved infrastructure and an amazing skyline of skyscrapers.

“Cambodia is no longer the poor neighbour but a low[er]-middle-income country accelerating to a high[er]-middle income country within the decade – a true ASEAN success story,” he said.

However, Galliano noted: “There are a plethora of issues on the table. The potential of a global recession, high inflation, supply chain issues, regional trade, oil prices, the strong dollar, the war in Ukraine, Myanmar and tensions between China and the United States are some.

“The key focus [of the summits] will be the global economy and addressing the critical challenges ahead, to ensure the world avoids a global recession, as well as ASEAN trade and continued integration,” added Anthony.

In a recent interview with Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency, Kao Kim Hourn, Minister Delegate Attached to the Prime Minister, underscored the strategic importance of the summits for Cambodia as well as the nine other ASEAN countries and the bloc’s dialogue partners.

He told Xinhua that the event will feature discussions on the elevated global oil and food prices, post-Covid-19 economic recovery initiatives and climate change, as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Korean Peninsula and pertinent security issues.

“This is a very critical time because Cambodia will be not just on the regional map, but also on the global map, as we steer and navigate all of these challenges,” the outlet quoted him as saying.

Kim Hourn on January 1, 2023 is set to become the first Cambodian citizen to serve as the ASEAN secretary-general, for a five-year term, replacing Bruneian government official Lim Jock Hoi.

The Ministry of Commerce reported that trade between Cambodia and the nine other ASEAN countries reached $4.340 billion in the first quarter of this year ended March 31 – up 18 per cent year-on-year from nearly $3.7 billion – with the Kingdom’s imports and exports accounting for $3.168 billion and $1.172 billion, respectively.

By comparison, the General Department of Customs and Excise reported that commodity trade between Cambodia and the top five ASEAN markets – Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia – hit $12.453 billion in the January-September period, up 9.35 per cent year-on-year from $11.388 billion.

Cambodia’s imports and exports accounted for $10.056 billion and $2.396 billion, respectively, up 9.32 per cent and 9.50 per cent on a yearly basis. The Kingdom’s trade deficit with the five-nation grouping for the period expanded by 9.27 per cent to $7.660 billion.