The announcement comes at a time when the United States and European Union have approved some fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Cambodian officials have maintained that the Kingdom will take foreign direct investment from all interested nations.
Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and Iranian Ambassador Seyed Javad Ghavam Shahidi agreed on Thursday to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, Council of Ministers spokesman Ek Tha said yesterday.
Among the proposed economic activity were oil imports from Iran, which would be refined in Cambodia and then sold to China starting in 2014, Ek Tha had said at a press conference.
Construction on Cambodia’s first oil refinery, located on 365 hectares in Sihanoukville and Kampot provinces, will begin in April and finish in 2014, the Post reported last month.
Domestically owned Cambodian Petrochemical Company, China National Automation Control System Corporation and China’s Sino March Company will invest US$2 billion in the refinery.
Cambodia Petrochemical’s Han Kheang said yesterday that he has met with the Iranian ambassador twice to discuss the oil imports.
Other proposed economic cooperation between the two countries included agricultural exports to Iran, as well as Iranian investments in medicine and education in Cambodia, Ek Tha said.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on oil and gas projects last year, he said.
The United States and European Union imposed sanctions this month that would cut off crude oil exports from Iran on July 1. Cambodia will not take into account the foreign policies of other countries toward Iran when considering investment in the Kingdom, Ek Tha said.
“We do not discriminate where our FDI comes from,” he said, adding that the deepening of cooperation with Iran was strictly civilian, not military.
“Some Western countries put economic sanctions on [Cambodia] after we toppled the Pol Pot regime. We have learned some hard lessons about the damage of sanctions, so we will keep our economy open.”