First France-Cambodia Forum Touches on Sustainable City

• 31 December 2015
• Association Focus
• 726 Views

Issues related to sustainable city design were discussed at a building forum that brought together five French construction-related companies, Cambodian government officials, and experts from the sector.

The discussion was organized in response to the booming construction sector in Cambodia, especially in Phnom Penh. The organizer intends to utilize the forum as an arena for French companies to explore opportunities to access this promising market.

The forum was organized by UBIFRANCE, the French Agency for international business development that helps French companies to enter and develop partnerships in foreign markets, and hosted at the French Embassy in Phnom Penh in December 2014. Leading French companies including De-So, Interscene, AREP, Schneider Electric, and Berim exchanged insights with officials from the Ministry of Land Management Urban Planning and Construction, the Cambodia Constructors Association, and other building experts with the aim of improving sustainable planning in Phnom Penh.

These companies, whose experience and know-how are internationally renowned, introduced their expertise to their Cambodian counterparts at a time when urban development in Cambodia is facing many challenges.

Most of these companies are operating in Vietnam and some, like Schneider Electric, have representative offices in Cambodia.

AREP Ville Company is an independent enterprise which was founded in 1997 in France. Since its establishment, AREP Ville has been working in the fields of research, regional development planning, urban and rural planning, and architectural design work, as well as other architecture-related sectors. The company established its representative office in Vietnam in 2005 and has worked on many planning projects since then.

DE-SO Architecture is an award-winning office that is renowned in France and abroad. DE-SO specializes in public buildings, education, housing, urban studies and urban design. It has offices in both France and Vietnam.

INTERSCENE is a master planning, urban planning, and landscape design firm that pilots study missions and projects in France and internationally, focusing on innovative development concepts in which plants are used as various structuring elements.

Schneider Electric is the global specialist in Energy Management. It has built a comprehensive, balanced business portfolio to deliver integrated energy management solution so that its customers can focus on their core business. It is an uncontested global leader in electric distribution, critical power and cooling services and automation & control.

With over 60 years’ experience and expertise in multiple sectors, BERIM has been able to make developing countries benefit from its competences, in Asia and in Africa. Most of its international activities are related to the environmental sector, and contracts are handled by funding from the public help for development, or by private operators.