Leading Japanese Firms Set to Explore More Business Opportunities Here

Leading Japanese Firms Set to Explore More Business Opportunities Here

A group of Japanese investors is Kingdom-bound later this year, with the aim of exploring business opportunities to further add to their country’s existing portfolio of businesses.

Figures released for 2019 from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), a government arm responsible for overseeing investment, show that there are currently 143 registered Japanese investment projects representing a capital investment of $2.7bln. According to the CDC, some of the businesses and sectors that have benefitted include electronic and vehicle auto parts production, technical equipment, food processing, agro-industry, healthcare, and tourism.

Takahashi Fumiaki, President of the Japan-Cambodia Association (JCA), said the association is planning to delegate representatives of leading Japanese companies interested in exploring the Kingdom’s business climate and investment policy. The official visit is scheduled for December this year.

Takahashi disclosed the plan during a recent meeting with the ministries of both Commerce and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, represented by ministers Pan Sorasak and Veng Sakhon. However, he failed to reveal the specific number of Japanese business representatives that will make up the delegation, only noting that those companies are large-scale and leaders in the country. “The interested investors are currently conducting feasibility studies to invest in aquaculture, soap and cosmetics manufacturing, and Cambodia’s gold silk industry,” he said.

Veng and Pan have pledged their full support to Japanese investment in the Kingdom. They both said the government has made a great effort to attract more direct foreign investment in the country, by creating a favorable investment climate.

This year will mark the second time that the JCA has organized such an event. In December 2019, 17 Japanese business delegates met potential local business partners in Phnom Penh at a gathering co-organized by ACLEDA Bank Plc. Commenting at the time, Takahashi told Khmer Times that the Japanese investors’ main focus was the agriculture sector.

In another recent bilateral consultation between the Foreign Affairs Ministries of Japan and Cambodia, both sides pledged to increase two-way trade this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. They agreed to encourage relevant institutions to “work closely together in improving investment in the Kingdom, aiming to lure more Japanese investors,” a statement from the Cambodian Foreign Affairs Ministry read.