PHNOM PENH – SM Entertainment, one of South Korea’s leading entertainment companies, has set out plans to invest in Cambodia.

Representative Park Sungjin spoke of the company’s interest at a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Manet on May 17 during the PM’s official visit to Seoul. The company is doing business in some ASEAN states.

“SM Entertainment is looking for opportunities to expand its investment and business operations in other ASEAN states and one of those is Cambodia,” Park said.

The remarks were posted on Hun Manet’s Facebook account on May 17. 

Korean movies and K-pop music are popular in Cambodia, especially among young people, Hun Manet said, adding that Cambodia was pleased to receive the investments.

Nearly 60,000 Cambodians live in South Korea, while around 7,800 South Korean were staying in Cambodia as of last year, he said.

Doing business or organizing events such as concerts contributed to cultural exchanges and attracting tourists for both countries.

SM Entertainment, created in 1995, operates in music production, artist management, concert tours, content creation, movie and TV show production, sales and broadcasting rights, and global market expansion.

To date, a few Korean artists have included Phnom Penh on their concert tours. One was SHINee — an SM Entertainment boy band — at the Olympic National Stadium. About $10,000 from the revenue was donated to the Cambodian Children’s Fund.

Hun Manet told the Cambodian Embassy in South Korea to discuss the matter with the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and Tourism and to study the investment opportunities and potential in this field.

Hun Manet has been seeking business opportunities and cooperation from public and private sectors on his trip, which runs from May 15 to 18. Both countries upgraded their relationship to strategic partnership on May 16.

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During his meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo, Hun Manet said their countries were in talks about an initiative to establish regular consultation sessions and to build a special economic zone only for South Korean investment.