THE Japan International Cooperation Agency has announced a US$2 million project to improve investment information and staff expertise at the Council for Development of Cambodia.

Officials said the scheme aimed to make it easier for Japanese companies looking to enter the Kingdom.

At a signing ceremony at the CDC’s Phnom Penh office yesterday, JICA chief representative Yasujiro Suzuki said the agency wanted to further boost private investment “especially from Japan” by “improving the capacity of CDC ... in this emerging and competitive region”.

The funding would be used to further train staff, especially those in the CDC’s operational arm Cambodian Investment Board, as well as build a new “investor-friendly” website and a reception desk, he said.

The plan should help “attract more diversified industries which have not existed in Cambodia before”, he said.

An increasing number of Japanese firms were indicating a desire to grow their business here, such as food processing companies and small parts manufacturers, he told the Post at the ceremony.

“Cambodia has been involved mainly in specific industries like the garment industry before, but now we are expecting more companies from other production sectors to come from Japan,” he said.

Sok Chenda, secretary general at the Council for the Development of Cambodia, signed the funding agreement and officially thanked JICA on behalf of the CDC. Though the project details were not finalised, JICA expected to begin its implementation early next year.