Svay Rieng Province

Svay Rieng Province demonstrates how geographic positioning adjacent to larger economies creates specialized industrial niches that would be impossible in isolation. Situated 125 kilometers from Phnom Penh along National Highway 1—the corridor linking Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, and Bangkok—the province has evolved into Cambodia's densest special economic zone cluster, capturing manufacturing overflow from Vietnam's rising wages.

The numbers reveal concentration intensity: 11 active SEZs housing 208 tenants employing nearly 100,000 workers. Manhattan SEZ alone spans over 400 hectares of industrial space since 2005. Combined exports exceeded $680 million in the first eight months of 2020—garments, footwear, bicycles, electrical components—shipped through Vietnam's deep-sea ports to US and EU markets. This represents Cambodia's most successful realization of "Vietnam Plus One" industrial positioning.

The manufacturing ecosystem demonstrates investor nationality succession. Initial development attracted Taiwanese, South Korean, and Japanese factories. Mainland Chinese investors subsequently overtook all three, replicating the same progression seen across Southeast Asian manufacturing zones. This nationality shift reflects China's own wage pressure driving outward investment seeking labor cost arbitrage.

Bavet city anchors this industrial complex on the Vietnam border, functioning as processing node where Vietnamese port access, Cambodian labor costs, and preferential trade agreements converge. The strategic advantage lies precisely in not being Vietnam—accessing Vietnamese logistics while avoiding Vietnamese wages and regulations.

By 2026, Svay Rieng's trajectory depends on sustaining the cost differential that makes "Plus One" positioning viable. Wage inflation, infrastructure improvements, and potential Vietnamese SEZ competition could erode the arbitrage opportunity that created this manufacturing concentration.