Khmer Times-25 Oct 2017
A group of Japanese investors are now visiting Cambodia in search of business opportunities in manufacturing and the service sector.
Ith Sam Heng, the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, met yesterday with Yoshio Kondo, the director of Procast Asia, who is leading a delegation of businessmen from the Toukaizaikai Association, an organisation that has more than 300 member companies in the manufacturing industry and the service sector, including financial services, tourism and healthcare.
Mr Sam Heng told reporters after the meeting that the group’s intention is to gather information on the investment climate in the kingdom and the reality of doing business here to allow them to make informed investment decisions. “I told them about the many incentives Cambodia offers to foreign investors as well as the excellent relations our governments already enjoy. I also explained that Cambodia is now a stable nation ripe for investment,” Mr Sam Heng said.
“I do believe they will invest in our country in the near future. Their investments will create new jobs and aid the economic development of the nation,” he added.
Mr Kondo told reporters the delegation has not made any decisions yet, but hopes they will decide to invest in Cambodia because he sees great potential in the country. “We see a lot of potential in the technology sector here,” he said.
According to the latest figures from the Japan External Trade Organization, exports to Japan amounted to $334 million in the first quarter of the year, an increase of more than 37 percent compared with the same quarter in 2016.
Japan is the third largest investor in the country. Since 1992, it has also been Cambodia’s biggest donor, giving more than $2 billion in official development assistance.
