Monday, 17 September 2012
May Kunmakara
UK-based BIW automotive company on Friday signed a US$2 billion join venture investment with ACICA Automotive (Cambodia) to build a factory in Preah Sihanouk province for a Cambodian-made vehicle within the next three years.
The agreement was made between BIW’s director Robin Bowyer and ACICA’s Group Chairman Al Rumny, and is aimed at producing a low-cost car with the capacity of around 300,000 units per year for sale domestically, within ASEAN and globally.
The project entails a huge capital investment, with $450 million spent on building a new power station to supply the factory. An additional $1 billion will be spent on construction of a new township, infrastructure, fresh water and water treatment facilities while the remaining amount will be used for the car project, according to Al Rumny.
“The experts from the UK will bring the latest technology to produce the car here. We [ACICA] are committed to producing our car by 2015-2016 so that we will see our own home-made car within ASEAN, as well as the globe.
“By 2015-2016, we commit that Cambodia will have a Cambodian national car which represents the country, like Malaysia or others have. But the difference to Malaysia is that we will produce all parts, such as the body and engine, by ourselves. We don’t buy from other companies.
It means that everything is made in Cambodia,” Al Rumny said.