THE SUZUKI Motor Corp of Japan has formed a joint venture in Cambodia to begin making

around 10,000 motorcycles a year, according to Associated Press.

Suzuki would become the first major Japanese manufacturer to set up a factory in

Cambodia since civil war broke out in 1970.

The new joint venture, capitalised initially at US$500,000, is owned 51 per cent

by a Cambodian office automation equipment trader and the remainder held by Suzuki,

AP reported, quoting the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The local partner company is OMC Co of Phnom Penh, according to the Cambodia Daily.

It said the joint venture company, the Cambodia Suzuki Motor Co Ltd, is expected

to begin hiring staff soon for a factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. It would

be a $2.2 million venture.

The paper quoted Sok Chenda, secretary general of the Council for the Development

of Cambodia, as saying that two other popular vehicle brands, Japan's Honda and Malaysia's

Modenas Kriss Angkor, are expected to begin assembling their models in Cambodia soon

as their joint venture companies had already received state approval on importing

assembing parts.