Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Yoko Kamikawa will pay her first official visit to Cambodia from July 5-6. The trip is in response to an invitation from Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sok Chenda Sophea.

During her visit, Kamikawa will meet separately with Senate president Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet. She will also hold a bilateral meeting with Chenda Sophea, according to a foreign ministry press release.

“The visit will keep up the momentum of frequent high-level exchanges and further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Cambodia and Japan,” added the July 1 statement.

Kamikawa’s visit follows last year’s upgrading of relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Cambodian Centre for Regional Studies (CCRS) researcher Ek Bunly noted that Kamikawa’s visit will highlight the “strong” existing ties between Cambodia and Japan. He believed that although the relations are already strong, the visit shows that the two nations want to further strengthen bilateral ties.

He believed the visit demonstrates their ambitions to strengthen existing people-to-people cooperation and economic cooperation, as well as defence, and noted that Cambodia and Japan have an existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual training exercises. He highlighted that such cooperation is only productive if implemented well.

He believed this was likely, for a number of reasons.

“First, Japan is an excellent long-term partner of Cambodia. Tokyo adheres to the principles of liberal international order, in line with Cambodian principles. Japan is also a stable, reliable partner in the context of the geopolitical rivalry between the US and China and the pressure from the major powers to choose a side,” he said.

“On the contrary, Japan has never put pressure on Cambodia to choose a side, but has cooperated in all areas and recognised Phnom Penh’s neutral position. Japan also respects and supports Cambodia’s democracy, and as a result, Cambodia has reciprocated support within Japan’s key regional frameworks, such as Japan's Indo-Pacific strategy,” he added.

Bunly suggested that in order to further enhance this trusting relationship, the two countries should seek areas for further cooperation during Kamikawa’s visit, such as improving Cambodia-Japan tourism cooperation, education, and innovation and technology.

“With a growth rate of more than six per cent in the post-Covid-19 period, closer cooperation will benefit not only Cambodia but also Japan, one of the largest investors in Cambodia in the long run,” he said.

Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Institute for International Studies, said as comprehensive strategic partners, Cambodia and Japan have many opportunities and strategic cooperation on both regional and bilateral levels. He noted that Japan has been a crucial development partner and has supported the Kingdom’s development since the 1990s. 

“The meetings with Kamikawa will strengthen bilateral relations, promote multi-faceted cooperation, and support Cambodia's skilled labour force through TVET cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. At the regional level, the two countries will discuss security and development and how they can work together to maintain peace and development,” he explained.

Mengdavid told The Post on July 1 that one of the key features of Cambodia-Japan relations is the support for Cambodia's peacekeeping operations. This is accomplished through technical assistance, equipment and the training of Cambodia's armed forces.