By Vijian Paramasivam
PHNOM PENH, April 29 (Bernama) -- Cambodia’s automotive industry received a major boost on Monday (April 28) with the groundbreaking of an assembly plant by BYD Auto Co. Ltd., China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer.
Located in the coastal Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, the plant will have the capacity to assemble about 10,000 vehicles annually when operations begin at the end of this year, reported Fresh News.
There are plans to produce fully EV and hybrid models that use both gasoline and electricity.
“It will definitely support Cambodia to increase the use of EVs as indicated in our EV policy and is a positive move,” Deputy Director-General, General Department of Land Transport under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport Kong Sophal told Bernama.
“Build Your Dreams” or BYD in short, established in 1994, is a world leader in electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles and is a Fortune Global 500 company, according to its corporate website.
Hiring about 100,000 engineers and technicians across 11 research institutions, BYD has the largest research and development team globally.
The new plant is expected to create jobs for Cambodians and propel the EV passenger vehicle segment, as the government is also moving towards a greener transportation network.
According to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, 2,253 new electric personal vehicles were registered last year.
The government has rolled out the “Cambodia EV Roadmap” with an ambition to reach 800,000 EVs by 2030.
Cambodia has a long-term strategy for carbon neutrality and aims to introduce 70 per cent electric motorcycles, 40 per cent electric cars and urban buses in the Kingdom by 2050.
-- BERNAMA
