- Posted on: February 27, 2017
German industrial development specialist InSite Bavaria and local Kerry Worldbridge Logistics SEZ signed an MoU to intensify the cooperation in creating Cambodia’s first industrial cluster based on planning and advanced concepts of Germany’s Industry 4.0 on 20th February. “Industry 4.0” includes automating, smart machines and monitoring systems and has become the key term for the next development stage in manufacturing worldwide.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last week is supposed to pave the way for a German-Cambodian industry and technology cluster which will optimize Cambodian value chains and the development of small and medium sized companies, using German know-how to make them suitable for Cambodian needs. A joint action plan will include projects and investment initiatives in particular in the areas of technology scouting, vocational training, management and development of the special economic zone (SEZ), investment support, international trade platforms and logistics.
Kerry Worldbridge Logistics opened its tripartite SEZ in October 2016. It includes a manufacturing zone, a free trade zone and an investor support zone. It also shelters offices of various public stakeholders such as the Council for the Development of Cambodia as well as the Ministry for Commerce and the Ministry for Labor and Vocational Training. According to Charles Esterhoy, chief operations officer of Kerry Worldbridge Logistics Ltd., the partnership is a significant step in the creation of a Cambodian Industry 4.0. “In order for German manufacturing and related investment to enter into Cambodia successfully, the foundations for their investment need to be laid in time and set up needs to be done according to their modern standards”, Esterhoy said.
InSite Bavaria’s managing director Daniel Gottschald underlined that the agreed cooperation holds the potential to push the economic transformation of Cambodia by offering new business opportunities both for German and national companies. “All over the world, our projects have proven that strategies of sustainable cluster building, including well-managed projects of universities, global players and small and medium sized technology providers, create real impact investments and bring jobs and fair living conditions to the people”, Gottschald explained.
Tassilo Brinzer, President of the German Business Group in Cambodia, applauded the new German-Cambodian partnership. “It is a sign of confidence in the Cambodian economy and as such a remarkable development for the German business community in the Kingdom as a whole”, Brinzer concluded.
Currently, the stakeholders involved work on a feasibility study that should be finalized as fast as possible. By 2018, it is planned that about five to six German companies will settle down in the SEZ in southern Takhmau.