Cambodia, Japan to explore SME collaborations in niche markets

During the meeting on Saturday, Takahashi reaffirmed JCA’s commitment to enhancing the business ties between Japan and Cambodia, particularly with the recent establishment of a JCA office in Cambodia.

He highlighted the importance of facilitating direct communication and collaboration between Japanese and Cambodian businesses to streamline processes, moving beyond reliance solely on diplomatic channels.

JCA recently inaugurated its office in Cambodia on April 1, with expectations of stimulating increased interaction between Japanese SMEs and their Cambodian counterparts, thereby fostering mutual growth and facilitating exploration of niche markets in ASEAN and beyond.

Highlighting the significance of establishing a physical presence, Vanndy underscored Cambodia’s intention to leverage the JCA office to gain insights into Japanese innovations and to explore opportunities for collaboration beyond domestic markets.

He stressed the untapped potential within Cambodia’s SME ecosystem and the ministry’s dedication to enhancing public services, particularly focusing on the national quality infrastructure to bolster industries.

Identifying key sectors for potential collaboration, such as agro-processing, green technology, and electronics, he emphasised Cambodia’s eagerness to attract Japanese investment, particularly in areas that add value to local produce and increase productivity.

Kazunori Kato, Executive Director & Secretary-General of JCA, delineated two primary strategies for the new office, focusing on collaborating with Cambodian SMEs to co-produce products and implementing initiatives to offer technical and vocational training, aimed at enhancing the Cambodian workforce.

He conveyed his positive impressions from a recent business delegation visit to Cambodia.

In addition to fostering collaborations with Cambodian businesses, associations, federations and chambers of commerce, Vanndy also suggested that JCA engage with Khmer Enterprise, a government trust dedicated to supporting Cambodian start-ups and SMEs.

Vanndy highlighted that this partnership would leverage Khmer Enterprise’s expertise in providing technical training and funding support to facilitate synergies between Japanese SMEs and Cambodian enterprises.

While meeting with Takahashi during his visit to Tokyo in January, Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Privy Council of the King, welcomed the JCA to open its office in Cambodia to attract more Japanese investors to Cambodia.

Takahashi at that time told Mr Hun Sen that a JCA office in Cambodia would play an important role in attracting Japanese investors to Cambodia by helping to promote the investment potential in Cambodia to Japanese companies. Especially SMEs with about four million companies in Japan.

“Therefore, if we can attract only 0.1%, there would be about 4,000 Japanese SMEs that would come to invest in Cambodia,” Takahashi said.

In response, Mr Hun Sen highly appreciated the efforts of the JCA and welcomed the opening of the association’s office in Cambodia. He hopes that Japanese SMEs will play an important role in creating job opportunities for Cambodians as well as the possibility of transferring knowledge through investment in Cambodia.

Source:Khmer Times