A group of 10 politically active young Cambodians will visit Japan as part of the Japanese government’s support for Cambodia's democratic development. Among the 10, seven are from opposition parties, two from the ruling party and one from a civil society organisation.

The March 12 to 19 visit is part of the JENESYS 2024 programme, a people-to-people exchange initiative supported by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a March 10 press release from the Japanese embassy.

“This programme has been conducted since 2018 with the goal of supporting Cambodia's democratic development through promoting dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties, as well as other stakeholders. This visit will mark the seventh under this initiative,” explained the release.

The 10 young people will visit the Japanese Parliament and engage in discussions with members of the Japan-Cambodia Parliamentary Friendship Group.

They will also travel to Ichihara City, in Chiba Prefecture, to observe the gubernatorial elections and learn about efforts by various companies in the area to promote regional development.

Including this group, a total of 70 of the Kingdom’s brightest young minds have taken part in the programme.

Pa Chanroeun, president of the Cambodian Institute for Democracy, believed such visits are beneficial.

He explained that they help the next generation of leaders from all political and civil society sectors — key players in the Kingdom’s democratic process — learn more about Japan’s democratic system.

Japan, like Cambodia, is a democracy with a multi-party system and a strong democratic process.

“I believe this visit will provide our future political and civil society leaders an opportunity to learn from Japan’s experiences — what Japan has done, is doing and will continue to do — and to draw lessons that will help strengthen Cambodia’s democratic process in the future,” he said.