Chinese Led Light Maker Invests Us$16 Million in Cambodia

• Proeksa Meas
• 31 December 2015
• Construction Focus
• 2907 Views

Chinese firm, Qin Zhou Shenghe Electronic Technology Co., has slated US$16 million for the construction of a LED light-making factory in Cambodia, representatives from the company said in early December, 2014.

In Cambodia most people are still using outdated products such as 2G LEDs that consume too much energy. The company plans to introduce 4G LED products onto the Cambodian market which are very economical, said Huang Mei Xiang, marketing manager of Qin Zhou Shenghe Electronic Technology Co.

“We want to expand our market to Cambodia,” she said. “Cambodia is a potential market for LED lights which is worth around US$81 million and we want to capture the entire market share”.

The firm is currently awaiting licensing approval from the Cambodian government and plans to commence operations in March 2015 at a yet-to-be determined location.

Ken Ratha, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said the company’s presence is another step towards increasing the skills of employees in the manufacturing industry.

“LED production is a new industry for Cambodia. It will help bring new skills to workers and its products will be more competitively priced than the imported ones, which will benefit consumers,” he said.

Today people are focusing on reducing threats to the global environment, and sustainable lighting innovations like LEDs makes this possible in some ways, especially for Cambodia where energy is limited and expensive.

An LED, or Light Emitting Diode, emits light by the use of electricity. A diode is an electronic element that allows light to pass in a single direction only which provides high-quality illumination at a cheaper cost compared to non-LED apparatus, according to Taing Vorleak, General Manager of Pro-LED, a local LED products supplier.

LED is fast becoming a breakthrough technology, providing efficient sources of light. There are millions of applications in the market that are LED based and more are on their way soon, said Taing.

“You can use LEDs for almost anything under the sun,” she said. “It is a great innovation, with an energy saving of over 50 percent, a cost reduction, an eco-friendly technology by lowering carbon emissions, more efficiency, and a longer life span.”

Of course LEDs are more expensive initially than fluorescent lights by almost four times, but they can provide potential advantages over the long term such as low maintenance, low environmental impact, high response time, energy efficiency, durability, no heat emissions, and varied colors.

According to an advertising poster of EonLED, a Singapore LED company, smart LED lights are now available on the Cambodia market that automatically light up when human movement is detected by built-in motion sensors in line with the amount of ambient natural light of a location.

LEDs are lukewarm to the touch and carry the lowest risk of causing an accidental fire and burns, are non-hazardous to both humans and the environment so make homes and offices safer and cooler, said Kien Nareth, Mechanical and Electrical Manager of Canadia Tower for LED-lamp installation.

“As LED-lamps don’t produce heat, your air-conditioned room will be far cooler than normal.” he said. “If an air-conditioner usually takes two hours to bring a room down to 24c, with LED-lamps just one hour is enough.”

LED lights also can be connected with solar power to provide best results for economy saving and are very suitable for Cambodia which has plenty of sunlight and limited access to electricity.

LEDs are being accepted very quickly in Cambodia where the annual economic growth is around 7 percent and the technology has great potential for growth in construction and property including social infrastructure, hotels, condos, apartments, and factories.

At present, all LED lights on the Cambodian market are completely imported and most are from China, Taiwan, and Singapore with different qualities and uniqueness. Globalite, a Thai brand of LED lights using Taiwanese technology, has been the most recently introduced to the market.

Qin Zhou Shenghe Electronic Technology operates a 24,000 square meter plant in Qin Zhou city in China’s southern Guangxi region. The company manufactured US$162 million worth of the energy-saving lighting in 2014. If the company is granted a license and can start its operation as scheduled, it would be the first LED light maker in Cambodia so would benefit consumers through greatly improved price competitiveness.