Japan’s outgoing ambassador Masahiro Mikami and commerce minister Pan Sorasak on November 29. MOC
The Ministry of Commerce and the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh announced their commitment to enhancing relations and cooperation in all fields to further promote trade and investment relations.
The commitment was made during a November 29 meeting between commerce minister Pan Sorasak and Japanese ambassador Masahiro Mikami, who will soon complete his mandate.
During the meeting, Sorasak expressed his support for Japan’s initiatives to promote the strengthening of regional supply chain resilience and sustainable and inclusive economic development. He also encouraged more Japanese investors and businesspeople to invest in ASEAN nations, especially Cambodia.
Sorasak committed to working closely with the next Japanese envoy to further enhance bilateral relations under a comprehensive strategic partnership based on strong trust between the two governments and peoples, as they move towards the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership between Cambodia and Japan in 2023.
“Both sides have expressed their commitment to enhance long-term relations and further strengthen cooperation in all fields to expand and promote trade relations and investment of the two countries for further growth,” said the ministry.
Sorasak said Masahiro had successfully carried out his mission to the Kingdom by contributing to Cambodia’s economic development and had brought the two counties closer together.
He thanked the Japanese government and people for donating about 1.3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine through the COVAX mechanism, as well as for providing financial and technical assistance to support development projects that assisted the Kingdom’s post-Covid-19 recovery.
Mashiro said Cambodia was successful as this year’s ASEAN rotating chair and singled out Sorasak for special praise for his chairmanship of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting and its excellent results, according to the ministry.
“The ambassador appreciated the close cooperation between the two countries and strongly believed that Cambodia’s reputation would be further enhanced regionally and globally,” it said.
Thong Mengdavid, a research fellow at the Asian Vision Institute’s Mekong Centre for Strategic Studies, told The Post that Japan had been working to expand economic cooperation as well as building more infrastructure for Cambodia. Japan’s role has been indispensable in building the Kingdom’s economy since the 1990s.
“In a complex and acute international political context, Cambodia relies on all of its partners to strengthen its development and maintain regional and global peace and stability. Cambodia places a high value on its cooperation with Japan and is trying to facilitate a good environment for Japanese investors in the Kingdom,” he said.
