Cambodia & Economy: $5.43 billion in exports for the Special Economic Zones

According to the Ministry of Commerce, by the end of 2024, 49 Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects have been approved by the Cambodia Development Council (CDC), 26 of which are currently in operation.

Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone

The report indicates that in the first 11 months of the year, exports from the 16 SEZs (which include a total of 431 factories/companies) amounted to around 5.43 billion dollars. They employ a total of 183,703 workers.

According to the Ministry, the SEZ with the highest export value is the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), with $1.49 billion, followed by the Royal Group SEZ in Phnom Penh, with $1.08 billion. Other major SEZs are the Qi Lu Jian Pu Jay SEZ, the Manhattan SEZ and the Cambodian Zhejiang Guoji SEZ.

On 31 January 2024, at the ‘Special Program to Promote Investment in Preah Sihanouk Province 2024’ event, Prime Minister Hun Manet announced that Cambodia was considering creating SEZs reserved for investors from certain countries. This approach would attract more foreign investment to Cambodia.

‘We are preparing to implement and develop new types of SEZs to complement those that already exist. These future SEZs will be adaptable to different sectors of activity. We are working on policies and developing pilot projects for SEZs to attract investment in green technologies, green industries and the digital sector,’ he said.