00:00One thing that might impact any investment in Cambodia, of course, is the current situation along the border.
00:07And I guess I would like to use the opportunity to ask, there's a ceasefire in place.
00:11What is the most recent assessment, and do you think things will hold?
00:14Well, the ceasefire is still fragile, but I want to reassure you that Cambodia committed to the ceasefire.
00:24Cambodia needs peace, and I'm sure Thailand also needs peace in order to build our country, our respective country, for the benefit of our respective citizens.
00:41So we are committed to resolve the conflict through a peaceful mean.
00:48We have different mechanisms in place. We have GBC, General Border Committee. We have JBC, Joint Boundary Commission.
01:01Cambodia and Thailand will be neighbors for the next thousands of years.
01:08So let's work together to develop our economy for the benefit of our people, for the benefit of ASEAN.
01:16We cannot have a conflict, or else we lose the credibility of ASEAN.
01:22So I hope and I wish that this conflict can be resolved peacefully, sooner rather than later.
01:32I'd like to use the opinion also that we need to lower the temperature, the Cambodian citizens, also the Thai citizens.
01:41Let the government work together to find a peaceful resolution. Do not add fuel to the fire.
01:52Thailand did take the step to release the 18 Cambodian POWs. That does seem like some progress, but obviously previous attempts at a ceasefire have kind of broken down.
02:02And so I wonder if anything has meaningfully changed this time around, that you think there's maybe a better chance that it will hold.
02:09But the release of the 18 soldiers is the right decision.
02:13And we thank the international community for supporting that.
02:17I also thank the Thai government for releasing the 18 soldiers according to the agreement that we agreed on, the ceasefire agreement.
02:29But since then, we continue to work together.
02:34We asked the Thai government to convene, to join a boundary commission.
02:41They've done that before, so we need to do it again.
02:47Thailand has kind of framed the recent strikes as an assault on scam centers.
02:51I wonder if Cambodia sees any truth in that.
02:54You cannot use one issue of scam to invade the country.
03:01That's my own opinion.
03:03If the scam center happens in Cambodia territory, the government of Cambodia has the obligation, the right, sovereign right, to resolve them themselves.
03:15Now, we don't need the third country to come to resolve the scam center in Cambodia.
03:22Cambodia authority arrested and deported Chen Xi, the head of Prince's Group, to China.
03:32It took us a while to investigate, to collect all the information, and we took action.
03:40So when we have all the evidence, we took action according to the law of the land.
03:46This year in April, Cambodia was among the top of the list of President Trump's tariff rates.
03:53It was very high, over 40%.
03:54You led the negotiations for Cambodia.
03:57The rate is now 19%, much lower.
04:00Now that a few months have gone by, I do wonder what has been the economic impact of those levies so far.
04:07Two days after the announcement, our Prime Minister sent a letter to President Trump,
04:14offered to discuss, to negotiate in good faith, the trade between Cambodia and the U.S.
04:24I believe that Cambodia was the first country that concludes a comprehensive reciprocal trade agreement between Cambodia and the U.S.
04:36Now, we are continuing to discuss with USTR regarding certain sectors that we believe should be, should receive a lower reciprocal tariff.
04:50For example, the garment, the textile, the footwear, travel goods that employs nearly 1 million workers, predominantly women.
05:02So we ask USTR to reduce those important sectors for Cambodia for potentially reducing or zero out those sectors.
05:16It's important for Cambodia.
05:17There's lots of investment across Southeast Asia from China.
05:20And I understand Cambodia is a beneficiary of that as well.
05:24Have you, has there been any noticeable kind of uptick of investment from China as a result of these tariffs?
05:29The average, I would say, about 50% of our FDI come from China.
05:35We are trying to diversify our portfolio by going to different countries.
05:42I went to Europe a few times.
05:46I went to the U.S. a few times.
05:48I went to Japan.
05:50I went to Korea.
05:51I went to Australia.
05:52Korea, another country, tried to promote investment from other country to Cambodia.
06:00Having said that, our law, our law on investment does not discriminate against any investor.
06:09As long as they respect rule, regulation, law of the land, we review it and we approve the project.
06:16So I take this opportunity to encourage companies from the U.S., from Europe, from around the world to consider Cambodia as a place to invest.
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