The Cambodian embassy in Tokyo this week asked Japanese companies in need of foreign workers to hire more Cambodian “trainees and skilled workers”, commenting that the Kingdom’s labour force is relatively young compared to other ASEAN countries.

Cambodian ambassador Tuy Ry made the request to Toyama prefecture governor Hachiro Nitta and Toyama city mayor Hirohisa Fujii on May 18-19. The meetings aimed to further strengthen cooperation between the Cambodian mission and Toyama prefecture.

Ry also encouraged Japanese companies to look into investing in the Kingdom, the embassy said in a May 20 social media post.

He additionally asked Nitta and the relevant authorities to offer the appropriate protective services to some 200 Cambodian trainees and skilled workers based in Toyama.

The ambassador also attended the Cambodia-Toyama Friendship Association’s 40th anniversary festivities. The post noted that the association has helped promote Cambodian culture in Japan as well as human-resource development in the Kingdom, although it halted operations during Covid-19.

Ry thanked the association for its efforts and financial support of humanitarian causes in Cambodia, and urged it to expand into new cities and provinces.

“Tuy Ry also met with the management of Japanese companies in order to win them over as well as inform them about the Cambodian government’s foreign-investor protection policies and the new investment laws,” the post said.

It further stated that the ambassador touched base with Cambodian trainees employed by Hanshin Group, and asked the management that they be treated with “loving and tolerant care”.