Cambodia needs more Japanese investors, tourists

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda to encourage more Japanese investors and tourists to Cambodia in order to further heighten bilateral ties. The suggestion was made during a meeting between the two Prime Ministers in Laos' capital Vientiane on Monday on the sidelines of the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM-9), Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary of State at Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters at the Phnom Penh International Airport when Hun Sen returned from Laos on Tuesday evening. "Prime Minister Hun Sen also urged Japan to consider operating direct flights to Cambodia," he said. "In response, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda promised to encourage Japanese investors and tourists to Cambodia," said Kao Kim Hourn. Both sides also exchanged views on regional issues and Noda said that he would attend the 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits in Cambodia, to be held from Nov. 18-20, he said. Cambodia and Japan have had very good diplomatic ties, but ties in trade, investment and tourism remain small. Bilateral trade volume was 297 million U.S. dollars in the first six months of this year, up 21 percent from 246 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year, according to a report of the Japan External Trade Organization. On the investment side, since 1994 to July 2012, the country attracted the investments of only 259 million U.S. dollars from Japan, showed a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia. For tourism, Cambodia received 130,410 Japanese tourists in the first nine months of this year, up 11 percent compared with the same period last year, a tourism report said.