The Japan-Cambodia Association (JCA) has facilitated discussions between 24 Japanese companies, ACLEDA Bank Plc and the Japan Alumni Association of Cambodia on potential investment opportunities in the Kingdom.
JCA president and former Japanese ambassador to Cambodia Fumiaki Takahashi facilitated the meeting on April 25 that involved 30 Japanese investors from 24 companies in sectors including garments, textiles, health, construction and agriculture.
ACLEDA Bank president and CEO In Channy noted that the talks were intended to explore investment opportunities in Cambodia and sow the seeds for future cooperation.
“The talks are aimed at expanding the business partnership between Cambodia and Japan, with 24 Japanese companies and 29 Cambodian firms from all sectors. The invitation to investors from all walks of life is to provide mutual options for the two sides to achieve future cooperation.
“We are very pleased that investors from both countries are interested in each other’s business focus,” he said.
The ACLEDA CEO noted that companies at the meeting were mostly from the garment sector, one which already has high investment. But Channy said there is still significant interest as companies “know there is market demand in their country as well as in export markets”.
This is the second meeting that ACLEDA Bank has organised between the JCA and Cambodian investors.
Channy said that in 2019, the two sides agreed to make the meeting an annual event, but the Covid-19 crisis had led to its disruption for the last two years.
Takahashi told The Post that the JCA “always promotes and attracts” Japanese investment in Cambodia as it aims to “contribute to the development” of the Kingdom and maintain strong ties between the two countries.
He noted that the association has previously led Japanese investors to meet with institutions such as the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training and the Cambodian Alumni Association from Japan to identify investment opportunities and other ways to collaborate with Cambodian companies.
“We’ve seen that Cambodia has developed an attractive business environment, such as [through developing] new investment laws and free trade agreements with other countries. As the Covid-19 crisis tapers off, we encourage Japanese investors to seek investment opportunities in Cambodia. Some Japanese companies are looking for companies in Cambodia that have the potential to work together, and we hope that this meeting will be of great benefit to investors from both countries,” he said.
Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) president and Amru Rice (Cambodia) Co Ltd CEO Song Saran said at the meeting that the rice sector has been seeking Japanese investment in agricultural processing because the country has the cutting-edge technology necessary to process agricultural material into saleable food products.
“Japan is a high-tech country in the field of food production. We believe that Japan will be able to further promote Cambodia in this area,” he said.
Japan Alumni of Cambodia (JAC) president Ngov Peng Huy said that the meeting was a “business match” between Japanese and Cambodian companies, with both countries signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for business development cooperation in Cambodia.
“The MoU aims to facilitate investors from the two countries to promote and boost trade cooperation. Our association has more than a thousand members, some of whom are already in business [in Cambodia], so this memorandum will further facilitate the finding of good investment partners from Japan,” he said.
According to data from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), in 2021, trade between Cambodia and Japan was worth a total of $2.333 billion, an 11 per cent increase from 2020. Cambodia’s exports to Japan amounted to $1.753 billion, up by 8.39 per cent compared to 2020, while exports from Japan to Cambodia totalled $580.084 million, a rise of 19.67 per cent from 2020.