Harrison White

Cambodia should be seen as the next tiger economy of the 21st Century as investors are advised to increase the development of the Kingdom’s industrial and tourism property sectors according to leading property experts Anthony Galliano and Edward Lee.

The economic predictions were given during keynote speeches at the 2022 Realestate.com.kh Expo hosted at the Premier Centre Sen Sok in Phnom Penh with over 5,000 guests attending the two-day event.

According to the World Bank, Cambodia’s real growth is projected to reach 4.5 percent in 2022 as anticipated impacts from negative terms of trade are caused by rising oil prices and a cyclical slowdown in America and China.

Over the medium term, the economy is expected to trend back to potential, growing at around 6%. Cambodia’s first economic boom sustained an average annual growth rate of 7.7 percent between 1998 and 2019, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

To read more about Cambodia’s economic outlook click here.

Cambodia preparing for post-COVID boom

Chief Executive Officer of Cambodia Investment Management and President of American Chamber of Commerce Anthony Galliano highlighted the misguided perception of Cambodia as a poor, underdeveloped, even still recovering from war and genocide.  

“In 2015, Cambodia achieved the title of a lower middle-income country same as Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Philippines and I believe will obtain upper middle-income status by only 2028,” Galliano said.

Chief Executive Officer of Prince Real Estate Edward Lee outlined that Cambodia is primed for its second economic boom after the world economy recovers from the COVID pandemic, adding investors need to focus on industrial and tourism-related property development.

“Investors should be preparing for Cambodia’s second economic boom after its initial development boom in the early 2000s. I believe Cambodia will consolidate its post COVID economy over the next five years and then experience a second economic boom driven by the rising middle class and increasing local consumption,” Lee said.

To read more about Cambodia’s 2022 real estate market trends click here.

Cambodia is a ripe destination for international investors 

Galliano and Lee both commented that Cambodia needed to better market itself to investors and highlight the very attractive foreign ownership allowances and stable economic environment Cambodia offers.

“Cambodia offers 100% foreign-ownership for foreign investors, except for only a limited number some categories, while to own land only 51% of the company’s shares need to be owned by a Cambodian citizen,” Galliano said.

“In addition, the country is a mainly dollarized economy, eliminating the risk of sharp exchange rate adjustments and mitigating capital flight as well as freely convertible, ease of repatriation of profits,” he added.

Lee reflected on the strong opportunities in both the industrial and manufacturing sectors as well as the tourism sector adding Cambodia should achieve strong diversified economic growth over the next five to ten years.

“At Prince Real Estate, we have recently completed our medium term economic outlook and we are looking to pivot toward these two sectors that we believe will be the economic driver for the post-COVID boom,” Lee said.

CBRE Cambodia Country Director Lawrence Lennon has previously commented on the opportunities for Cambodia’s industrial and logistics property development as companies shift their sights from China and the Kingdom continues to embrace new technology as a means to open the door for investment and growth.

To read more about the opportunities for industrial property development in Cambodia click here.

Real Estate Expo 2022

Speaking to Cambodia Investment Review Tomas O’Sullivan said the flagship Real Estate EXPO 2022 is one of realestate.com.kh’s offline events pushing the real estate and related industries to new heights and delivering exclusive deals and vital services to the growing Cambodian market – all in one place.

The event allowed buyers to secure some of the best deals in real estate, attend free property seminars, and enjoy a great day out with the whole family by visiting some of the attractions such as the latest in property technology, car test drive areas, and kids entertainment zone.

Cambodia’s real-estate and construction sectors are considered one of the country’s four economic pillars. The Cambodian government has launched the strategic framework and program for post-covid recovery 2021-2023, three pillars are based on the three R’s – Recovery, Reform, and Resilience as well as Economic diversification, trade facilitation, and laws on Special Economic Zones.

To read more about the economic opportunities for Cambodia post COVID click here.