A senior investment official has reiterated a request for Japanese investors to ramp up their commitments to the Cambodian market, recommending a Thailand or Vietnam “Plus One” business approach, amid a government-spearheaded push towards deeper integration into regional and global supply chains.

Sok Chenda Sophea, secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the government’s highest decision-making body for large-scale investments, was speaking at the 25th meeting of the Cambodia-Japan Joint Committee on February 21, the CDC said in a statement that day.

The bilateral meetings, generally held biannually since 2009, are part of an investment maintenance mechanism under the umbrella of the Cambodia-Japan Agreement on the Liberalisation, Promotion and Protection of Investment, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on June 14, 2007.

The “Plus One” strategy mentioned by Chenda Sophea refers to the business model of extending supply chain networks developed in one nation to nearby countries.

The statement noted that the February 21 meeting centred on energy, taxation, logistics and other key issues, and was attended by Japanese ambassador Atsushi Ueno, Cambodian officials and representatives of several organisations.

These included Tokyo’s overseas development arm Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the government-linked Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Japanese Business Association of Cambodia (JBAC), and Japanese companies with investment operations in the Kingdom.

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Author: Hin Pisei

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Publication: 22 February 2023