Japanese Investors Eye Cambodia

Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22/06/2007

A delegation of Japanese investors plans to visit Cambodia, following a recent trip by Prime Minister Hun Sen to Tokyo where he signed a bilateral investment pact with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Japanese Ambassador Katsuhiro Shinohara said next month a delegation would arrive to study Cambodia’s investment climate. If they like what they see, he said, Cambodia could reap Japanese investment for the next 30 year.

“Japanese companies usually do a lot of research before investing,” Shinohara said through an interpreter. “Please be patient and wait, because after the research proves to be good, and we decide to invest, it is like a promise to invest and cooperate with Cambodia for 20, 30 years.”

Japan is the country’s largest donor, but falls behind China, South Korea and Malaysia when it comes to investment.
Shinohara said Japanese investment in Cambodia totaled about $22 million. Aid pledged this year alone was about $112 million.

Cambodia saw a rapid rise in foreign investment following peace accords in 1991, but businesses fled or folded in the wake of the 1997 coup. Since then, investment has risen again, with last year’s nearly 11 percent economic growth rate astounding economists.

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party Secretary-General Mu Sochua welcomed a visit from the Japanese. 

“We especially applaud the Japanese investors, who are honest and law-abiding people,” she said.

Direct flight between Cambodia and Japan

Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Direct flight between Cambodia and Japan is part of the cooperation agreement between the two countries. Kim Sophorn, undersecretary of state at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, told The Cambodia Daily that direct flights from Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to Japan will start in the near future, and that this is part of the agreement signed in Tokyo last week between Hun Sen and Shinzo Abe, his Japanese counterpart, Kim Sophorn said Japanese Civil Aviation informed him that the two sides will coordinate to the flights together, however, Kim Sophorn said that he does not know when the direct fights will start. 

Source: http://www.ki-media.blogspot.com/

TOKYO, June 14
KYODO

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday signed a bilateral investment pact aimed at attracting Japanese investment to the Southeast Asian country.

The pact liberalizes Japanese investment in Cambodia and states that this policy will be maintained in the future — a move to boost Japanese investment and expand the presence of Japanese firms there, Japanese officials said.

Source: http://www.ki-media.blogspot.com/

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) shakes hands with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after they exchange documents at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo June 14, 2007. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN)

by Hiroshi HiyamaThu Jun 14, 10:08 AM ET

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen pledged Thursday to fight corruption to lure more investors from top donor Japan as he tries to wean his government away from foreign aid.

Hun Sen, visiting Japan for his 15th time, met with business leaders and signed a bilateral agreement with his counterpart Shinzo Abe on encouraging investment.

“By strengthening good governance, we will continue to thoroughly manage public agencies and to eradicate corruption and reduce costs for investors,” Hun Sen said at the luncheon with business leaders.

“I firmly believe that Japanese investment is essential for further development of Cambodia,” Hun Sen said.

Hun Sen himself has been embroiled in accusations of poor governance.

Earlier this month, London-based environmental group Global Witness — in a report banned by the Cambodian government — accused the political elite including Hun Sen’s relatives of illegally logging the nation’s forests.

Japan is the top donor to Phnom Penh, but the world’s second largest economy accounts for a mere two percent of Cambodia’s overall trade, according to Japanese official data.

Japan offered Thursday fresh grant aid of 295 million yen (2.4 million dollars) for a project to improve drainage and flood protection in Phnom Penh.

Donors are meeting in Cambodia next week, but many have expressed deep frustration over the lack of reform in the country including corruption.

Hun Sen has frequently praised China, which has a growing rivalry for influence with Japan, for handing over aid without any conditions.

But he said here: “Aid from Japan and China are both very important. I don’t want to skip over Japan and look to China, nor the other way around.”

“Japan and China are both irreplaceable important players when talking about an idea of an East Asia community,” he said. “I am glad that the bilateral ties between Japan and China are increasingly more friendly.”

Hun Sen said Cambodia was on a steady growth track, overcoming the regional economic crisis in the 1990s and occasional natural disasters.

Recently discovered natural resources, such as oil and natural gas, should also boost Cambodia’s international standing, Hun Sen said.

“Cambodia historically had had difficulties and struggles. But we have overcome the difficulties with our strong will to develop the nation under democracy,” he said.

Hun Sen voiced optimism that growth, which has surged ahead at around 9.0 percent a year since 2000, would help eliminate widespread poverty in Cambodia.

“It is my sincere hope that well thought-out social and economic development will further reduce poverty in our nation,” he said.

He thanked Japan’s consistent financial and other aid for his nation, adding that more assistance is needed to improve infrastructure, human resources, and business and technological know-how.

Japan pledged more than 100 million dollars at last year’s donor meeting, which netted Cambodia some 600 million dollars in aid.

Hun Sen, who arrived late Wednesday and leaves Saturday, also had an audience with Emperor Akihito.

He will travel to the southern region of Fukuoka to observe a project in farm development, a top priority for Cambodia.

Source: AFP News

Cammodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, escorted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, waves during a welcoming ceremony Thursday at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tokyo. POOL PHOTO

Friday, June 15, 2007

By REIJI YOSHIDA

Staff writer

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Phnom Penh counterpart, Hun Sen, signed a pact Thursday to promote investments by Japanese firms in Cambodia.

Under the pact, signed at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Japanese firms will be treated equally in terms of regulation and taxation as Cambodian firms when they invest in the country.

The pact would bar Cambodian companies from requiring investing Japanese firms to transfer technology or procure products in the Southeast Asian nation, because such demands may discourage investments from Japan.

Japan is the top donor to Phnom Penh, but the world’s No. 2 economy accounts for a mere 2 percent of Cambodia’s overall trade, according to Japanese official data.

Donors are meeting in Cambodia next week, but many have expressed deep frustration over the lack of reform in the corruption-rife nation.

Hun Sen, who arrived on a four-day visit Wednesday, met Japanese business leaders at a luncheon and met with Abe earlier the day.

During the meeting, Abe expressed his intention to provide Cambodia with 3 billion yen in official development assistance over the next three years, even amid recent ODA cutbacks due to the government’s austere fiscal policy.

Hun Sen, visiting Japan for the 15th time, welcomed the economic assistance.

In accordance with the pact inked Thursday, a business mission consisting of government and private-sector leaders will be sent in July to promote Japanese investments in Cambodia, Abe told Hun Sen during the meeting. Abe also stressed Tokyo’s intention to back up a project to build a second major bridge over the Mekong River, the official said.

Information from AFP-Jiji added