Cambodia's exports to Japan dramatically increased during in the first quarter of 2015, bucking the trend of fellow ASEAN member states who all saw a decline in shipments to Japan over the same period.

According to the latest data from the Japanese External Trade Organisation, Cambodia’s year-on-year exports to Japan were up by 37 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, reaching $245 million.

Hiroshi Suzuki, CEO and Chief Economist at the Business Research Institute, said the depreciation of the Yen against the US dollar had seen a slowdown of imports from most countries. But increased exports from Cambodia, he said, was due to the rapid investment of Japanese firms in the Kingdom over the past few years, that was beginning to bear fruit in 2015, he said.

“I suppose that the automobile and electronic parts produced in PPSEZ and other SEZs could be one of the engines for the increasing exports.”

During the first quarter of 2015, Japanese imports from all other ASEAN member countries showed a decline, according to JETRO. This included Thailand who were down by 5 per cent, Vietnam who decreased by 3.5 per cent and Myanmar dropping by 3 per cent.