Gov’t clarifies stand on Vingroup’s electric taxi bid
- MileStone.
- Dec 15, 2023
- 2 min read
Established time - December 15, 2023
Amid reports of Vingroup, a Vietnamese-based company, planning to operate electric taxi service in the Kingdom in early 2024, a spokesperson of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) yesterday released a statement saying, “Prime Minister Hun Manet has nixed plans requested from the Vietnamese company.”
Speaking to Khmer Times, Pen Bona, spokesperson of the RGC said, “I would like to clarify that the Vice Chairman of Vingroup has made a proposal that he intends to invest in Cambodia, but the Premier did not allow or issue approval. It was just a request.”
Bona emphasised that there is no such approval or agreement that was officially signed during the meeting because normally it requires a thorough study, research and examination from the RGC before allowing any investment in the country.
The RGC statement was issued in response to the news that appeared in some media outlets that a Vietnamese company got approval to start an operation of electric taxis with 2,500 cars across Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Preah Sihanouk provinces early next year.
Prime Minister Hun Manet did not provide any instruction to allow Vingroup’s proposal to run its operation in the country, said the statement.
Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice Chairman of the Board and Deputy General Manager of Vingroup had indeed proposed a plan to invest in running an electric taxi company in Cambodia.
However, Prime Minister Hun Manet did not provide permission following the company’s request, the statement added.
This information attracted the attention of some social media players and they began to share it virtually which caused the public and community to confuse that the company will open a business in Cambodia next year.
Early this week, Mr Hun Manet during his official visit to Vietnam received many courtesy calls from Vietnamese investors including Viettel, VietJet Group, Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), a parent company of the Bank for Investment and Development in Cambodia (BIDC) and Truong Hai Group Corporation (THACO), who were keen on expanding trade and pure investment into the Kingdom.
According to the Ministry of Information (MoI) press release on Tuesday, Vingroup has proposed to invest in the electric vehicle sector by running a taxi service with 2,500 electric cars and the company intends to officially operate in March 2024 in Phnom Penh and further in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville if the RGC agrees on the project.
While Mr Hun Manet did appreciate Vingroup’s proposal and encouraged other investments to expand their businesses and projects, the RGC has also set a policy to use clean energy that contributes to the protection and preservation of the environment.
He encouraged other companies to invest in the production of components and auto parts in the Kingdom for use in the car production chain in Vietnam.
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