Japanese investment in light industry desired

KHMER TIMES
CHEA VANNAK

Japanese investment in light industries, like bottling plants, will help create a more skilled workforce. Reuters

Cambodia hopes to see Japanese investment in the light industry sector, which will help develop the kingdom’s labor force.

Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, in a meeting last week with Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Hidehisa Horinouchi, asked Japan to consider investing in the light industry sector.

Japan is already the biggest investor in Cambodia’s special economic zones with $300 million invested.

In Channy, board chairman of the Cambodia-Japan Association for Business and Investment, said that most Japanese investors invest for the long term and by doing so, can help Cambodia move towards a more skilled labor force.

“Japanese investors are strategic investors, meaning they think about investing for the long term which is a good sign for Cambodia’s economy,” Mr. Channy said. “By having strategic investors like the Japanese, Cambodian laborers can become skilled laborers.”

With healthy economic growth, political stability compared with elsewhere, a good geographical location and favorable incentives, Cambodia can attract more Japanese investors, Mr. Channy said.

Mey Kalyan, senior advisor to the government’s Supreme National Economic Council, said that upgrading infrastructure and paying greater attention to Japanese businesses already in the kingdom would lure more Japanese investors to the country.

“To attract new Japanese investment, we have to look after existing Japanese companies operating in the country,” he said.

Mr. Kalyan urged the government to look into improving logistics in the country so that manufacturers could better transport their products to the ports and airports for export overseas.

Mr. Horinouchi, in the meeting, said that he would encourage more Japanese investment in the kingdom to help the Cambodian government with its Industrial Development Policy, as he believes Cambodia will see development and progress in all sectors in the future. Cambodia exported a total of $931 million to Japan in the first nine months of 2016, according to official figures from the Ministry of Commerce, while imports from Japan in the same period were $209 million.