Cambodia's cashew nuts reportedly gain popularity among Japanese consumers. YOUSOS APDOULRASHIM
The company FIS Co Ltd has expressed interest in importing potentially lucrative agricultural items from Cambodia for distribution to Japan, as cashew nuts and products thereof reportedly gain popularity among Japanese consumers.
This came during a meeting between Cambodian ambassador to Japan Tuy Ry and FIS representatives Hidemasa Miyamoto and Li Koshi at the Kingdom’s embassy in the East Asian archipelago nation on September 9, as reported by the embassy in a statement.
Ry mentioned a medley of promising exportable commodities offered by the Kingdom with high perceived marketability in Japan, such as garments, footwear, travel bags, bicycles, and electronic components, as well as agricultural products like milled rice, cassava, cashew nuts, bananas, peppercorn, and mangoes, according to the statement.
The ambassador welcomed additions to the steadily growing stream of Japanese money pouring into Cambodia, noting that 149 main Japanese-invested projects cumulatively worth nearly $3 billion have been approved by the government since 1994.
Similarly, Cambodia has an open market economy with a fairly liberal regime towards imports, he said, adding that a wide variety of goods are brought in from abroad according to local market demand.
After the meeting, the FIS representatives visited the Cambodia Private Commercial Centre (CPCC) – which was inaugurated on June 18 in Atsugi city of Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture – to analyse a set of Cambodian products with market potential, according to the statement.
At the CPCC, they were met by representatives of Cambodian companies involved in the mart business or the import and export of goods that have voiced interest in the Atsugi-based commercial centre as a channel to bring in Cambodian merchandise for distribution in Japan. These included Money Trading Co Ltd of Osaka prefecture and M7 Supermarket of Gima prefecture, the statement said.
On the same day, the ambassador also visited nearby Yokohama city, where he met with Jun Honda, a senior officer with supermarket operator OK Corp, which sells Cambodian cashew nuts at 150 of its retail outlets around the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, the embassy said in a separate statement.
Ry encouraged Honda to look into widening distribution channels of Cambodian products, and importing additional food items, such as dried mango and pineapple, peppercorn and palm sugar.
Honda agreed to do his part and offer a wide variety of Cambodian products at OK Corp’s outlets while ensuring their compliance with quality, safety, aesthetic and packaging standards.
Meanwhile, Cambodia’s sole formal cashew nut exporter to Japan resumed shipments of the edible seeds to the East Asian nation early this month following a nearly half-year hiatus due to regulatory issues on the Japanese side.
In collaboration with Top Planning Japan Co Ltd (TPJ), local processor-and-exporter Chey Sambor Cashew Nut Processing Handicrafts has exported roughly 50 tonnes of cashew nuts to the Japanese market since its inaugural consignment last year, including the latest 4.5 tonne batch.
The owner, In Lay Huot, last week affirmed that the enterprise categorises the cashew nuts as organic- and regular-grade, with only the most recent consignment comprising organic-grade nuts. She said both types would be exported to Japan going forward.
In the January-August period, trade between Cambodia and Japan expanded by 16.86 per cent year-on-year to $1.332 billion, with the Kingdom’s trade surplus narrowing by 14.0 per cent to $246.072 million, according to the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia.
