Exports to Japan up 32 per cent last year

Cambodian exports to Japan tipped $776 million in 2014, a 32 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.

Analysts attribute the exports rise to an increase in Japanese investment in the Kingdom.

“Many Japanese factories are now a strong engine to boost the [Cambodia’s] exports, especially to Japan,” said Hiroshi Suzuki, chief economist at Business Research Institute for Cambodia.

Suzuki added that a rise in automobile and electronic parts manufacturing in Cambodia-based Japanese firms was helping to strengthen trade.

“I believe that this trend will continue because Japanese FDI to Cambodia will continue for the time being.”

Cambodia-Japan bilateral trade reached $1.03 billion last year, an increase of 29 per cent on 2013.

Ken Ratha, spokesman of the Cambodian Commerce Ministry, said the Kingdom’s main exports to Japan are garments and footwear, electrical machinery and leather goods, while Japanese imports included cars, motorcycles and electronics.

“Economic cooperation between Cambodia and Japan is getting stronger and stronger and the trend is still promising for the future,” he said.