Cambodian and Australian investors, agribusinesses and developers met for talk on possible investment opportunities under Cambodia’s new Agri-Food Industrial Park (AIP) Framework, on August 27.
The meeting was hosted by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) and the Australian embassy in Cambodia.
The AIP Framework aims to accelerate agri-food industrialisation through a private sector-led approach, supported by government, that attracts high-quality investment, creates jobs and enhances value-added processing and export competitiveness, according to a joint CDC-embassy press release.
The presence of just one Agri-Food Industrial Park could contribute up to $5.1 billion to Cambodia’s economy over 20 years, create more than 100,000 jobs – including over 56,000 jobs for women – and help more than 20,000 people leave poverty annually, according to a recent study by the Cambodia Australia Partnership for Resilient Economic Development.
“The Royal Government of Cambodia is committed to strengthening the country’s competitiveness and attracting investment that supports inclusive and sustainable economic growth, job creation and increased value addition in the agricultural sector,” said CDC first vice-president Sun Chanthol.
“The AIP Framework represents an important milestone in Cambodia’s efforts to modernise its agricultural economy, strengthen value chains and create an enabling environment for private sector investment,” he added.
Australia has supported the development of the AIP Framework since 2022, working closely with the CDC, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and a broad range of government and private sector
“Australia is pleased to collaborate with the Royal Government of Cambodia on the development of Agri-Food Industrial Park Framework. It will attract responsible investment and improve the linkages between producers and processors to promote high-value agriculture production,” noted Australian ambassador Derek Yip.
Strengthening domestic processing can help build a more competitive and resilient agri-food sector, support rural livelihoods and food security and create new market opportunities, especially when Cambodia is navigating a complex global market environment, explained the joint release.
Agriculture generated more than $3 billion in exports in the first seven months of 2026, making it a critical driver of Cambodia’s economy and providing employment to more than a third of the population, it added.
Agro-processing has been identified as a priority sector for investment by the CDC, and is a key pillar of Australia’s development cooperation with Cambodia.
