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2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit - We Unpack Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet’s Visit

on Mar, 07 2024

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet was in Melbourne, Australia, to attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit from March 4-6, 2024 with several meetings held as part of the regional summit and aimed at boosting trade and investment with the Kingdom. We try to unpack the announcement from the three-day summit and the several side-meetings the Cambodian Prime Minister engaged in. 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit - We Unpack Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet’s Visit Australia has provided almost USD $2 billion in development assistance to Cambodia over the course of the past two decades, including to but not limited to; infrastructure, demining, agriculture, health and education. Prime Minister Hun Manet attended several meetings with a delegation from the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce which intended to encourage investment from Australia in Cambodia.

ASEAN-Australia Special Summit Melbourne - Key Takeaways

From a regional perspective, at the key summit in Australia, it was announced that ASEAN and Australia aim to reach in excess of USD $350 billion in trade volume by 2040. This would mean the volume of trade would need to triple from current estimates and a growth rate of 6.3 per cent (up from the current 4.6 per cent) was set - this would result in the trading bloc becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2040.

In 2024, Southeast Asia accounts for around 13 per cent of Australia's total exports.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a USD $1.3 billion investment financing facility intended to boost investment in Southeast Asia.
This is in line with the “Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040” (SEAIFF) which was introduced in 2023 by the Australian PM.
The SEAIFF will focus on clean energy and infrastructure and provide loans, guarantees, equity and insurance.
More than USD $12 million are also part of a new programme to boost Australian businesses and trade in Southeast Asia (SEA).
Australia plans to extend its 10-year frequent traveller visa scheme to eligible ASEAN countries as part of its plan to improve visa access for Southeast Asia.
A new USD $10 million “Climate and Clean Energy Window” was also announced, targeting climate change and promoting clean energy solutions.

At the conclusion of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit Melbourne on March 6th, 2024, all participating nations also called for “restraint in the contested South China Sea and a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.” (Please note that many financial announcements were made in AUD and we have converted these to approximately USD)

Australia-Cambodia Business Forum 2024

Cambodia and Australia have pledged to expand their bilateral relations as the Prime Ministers of both countries met in Melbourne. In 2022, the two-way trade in goods and services between the countries was valued at approximately USD $1.1 billion (USD $0.8 billion in goods and USD $0.3 billion in services).

The latest figures from the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) indicate that bilateral trade was USD $502 million in 2023 and that Cambodia exported USD $370 million worth of goods to Australia last year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, at the Australia-Cambodia Business Forum, discussed the reforms the government has made to make Cambodia an attractive destination for foreign investment and that they are working closely with businesses and investors to address challenges to guarantee successful businesses and investments in Cambodia. The 19th Government-Private Sector Forum was mentioned as a highlight and the reforms were announced to encourage FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).

The Prime Minister also pointed to the launch of the new “Handbook on Investing in Cambodia”, prepared by the Australian DFAT and the Council for the Development of Cambodia which was released in mid-2023, as a comprehensive guide for prospective investors. Other factors to be considered were the bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreements the Kingdom had entered into, and the investment into major infrastructure projects which would better position the country in terms of logistics and as an economic corridor to the region.

Cambodia-Australia Business Council Formed

The Cambodia-Australia Business Council has been formed to serve as an additional mechanism to coordinate and promote the bilateral trade and investment activities between the two nations. This follows the meeting of the Prime Minister of Cambodia, and Mr. Bran Black, CEO of the Business Council of Australia.

The new council has been urged to work with the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce and the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce on the establishment of this mechanism. The Business Council of Australia represents more than 120 major Australian private companies, and provides more than 1 million jobs - the CEO expressed their intention to expand cooperation with Cambodia.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) & Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) SIgned An MOU

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Melbourne on March 6th 2024. The MoU aims to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation between Cambodia and Australia and to develop the exchange of trade and investment information (subject to confidentiality requirements), as well as implement referral mechanisms.

This would also include servicing members of each organisation to support business between Cambodia and Australia.

Australia-Cambodia Agriculture Intent

Key exports to Australia from the Kingdom include gold, clothing, recreational travel items, footwear, and travel goods and bags, while the main imports to Cambodia are education-related travel, cereal, recreational travel items, coal and beef.

Cham Nimul, Cambodian Minister of Commerce, encouraged Australian businesses to invest more in Cambodia when she met Senator Tim Ayres, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing in Melbourne.

SunRice Group

Paul Serra, CEO of SunRice with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet SunRice Group announced it is planning to import an increased amount of Cambodia's aromatic Jasmine rice, which could lead to increased export opportunities for Cambodian businesses and farmers in the agri sector.

This follows a meeting between Paul Serra, CEO of SunRice with Prime Minister Hun Manet on March 4, 2024. The Australian firm is a food importer/exporter which deals with various markets such as the US and Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Enserv Holding Australia Targets Sorghum Processing Investment in Cambodia

Enserv Holding Australia Chairman and Founder, Tanachat Pochana, met with Cambodia. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and the former expressed an interest in expanding their core business of sorghum cultivation in the Kingdom. Enserv Holding Australia processes sorghum into low-calorie, high-protein rice, and also converts it into biogas, with the company’s Chairman stressing that sorghum is a high-yield crop that thrives in various soil types, requiring less water compared to rice, and aids in carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere.

He is confident of the potential of the agricultural sector and favourable conditions in Cambodia, and they would explore investment opportunities in Cambodia for export purposes. Manet advised on the Cambodian policy to develop the agricultural sector by implementing modern technology and to further improve the energy sector by introducing technologies in alignment with the government's policy to develop clean energy.

SPC Group - Agri Processing

*Neil Brimacombe, CEO of SPC Group Meets Prime Minister Hun Manet.*

Neil Brimacombe, CEO of SPC Group, met with the PM and explained his company specialising in food production and fruit processing, as well as the export potential of processed fruit products. SPC Group also imports raw materials and Brimacombe expressed their intention to invest in the food industry in Cambodia.

Australian Education Support For Cambodia - IDP

In 2022, more than 2,800 Cambodian students studied in Australia, with the number since 1994 exceeding 27,000. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet also met with the CEO of IDP Education, Tennealle O’Shannessy, (which already operates in the Kingdom as IDP Cambodia) and the Prime Minister was supportive of their education mission of building human resource potential.

The CEO pledged that they would continue their cooperation with relevant institutions of Cambodia as she presented their plans to date and future activities. These include:

The establishment of the internationally recognised Australian Centre for Education (ACE)
Counselling services for Cambodian students looking to study abroad (services to as many as 2,000 students per year.)
Providing services to alumni associations.
Collaboration with universities to provide technical assistance on curriculum database management.

Furthermore, O’Shannessy said that IDP would be looking to invest more in Cambodia and expand with a new branch in Siem Reap while looking to do so in other provinces of Cambodia (Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampot, Sihanoukville, and Poipet).

The Prime Minister thanked IDP Education and encouraged them to continue to support and cooperate with relevant ministries of the Royal Government of Cambodia (especially the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports) and in the field of digital technology skills.

Logistics And Supply Chains - Australian Investments In Cambodia

Freshstart Logistics

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fresh Start Australia Pty Ltd and Freshstart Logistics, Daniel Phillips, met with PM Hun Manet and explained their logistics operations globally, including their presence in Asia. Their expertise extends to logistics, supply chain, and warehousing services.

Linfox Company

Peter Fox, CEO of Linfox Company, in a meeting with Hun Manet, elaborated on Linfox’s six decades of experience in the transportation industry and their position as a leading logistics company in the Asia-Pacific region, with operations in a dozen countries, with more than 24,000 employees in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Healthcare Sector - Australia Firm Aegros Looks To Invest in Cambodia

Aegros, a subsidiary of Fresh Start Australia Pty Ltd. confirmed their intentions to investigate the potential investment in the Cambodian healthcare sector. Group CEO, Phillips, said they would be exploring investment opportunities in Cambodia across multiple sectors, including logistics, energy, and healthcare.

Cambodia Looking To Diversify Away From Gambling Investment

Some media reports picked up on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet urging investors to reconsider or halt investments in the country’s gambling sector, emphasising the Cambodian government’s stance against further investment in the gambling industry. One local media outlet indicated that Manet and the government aimed to suspend the issuance of new gambling licenses and reduce or revoke existing ones due to the industry’s perceived lack of societal benefits.