Cambodia’s exports to Japan were up 8.4 per cent in the first nine months of this year. Imports from Japan increased 36 per cent in the same period last year. The main products that Cambodia exports to Japan are: garments, footwear, sugar, fish and seafood. Imports from Japan are mainly machinery, automobiles, electronic products, beef, iron, steel and pharmaceutical products. Increasing bilateral trade volume Japan is a result of the efforts from both countries to mobilise business and investors. The growth in exports to Japan can be attributed to an increase in Japanese investors in Cambodia over the past few years. Most Japanese factories in Cambodia are located in special economic zones, which produce a lot of products that are exported to Japan. Japanese investment in non-textile manufacturing has contributed to diversifying Cambodia’s economic base and human resource development. There are 141 Japanese investment projects in Cambodia, of which 66 are in special economic zones.

Cambodia’s exports have been buoyed by efforts to assist its exporters, including the simplification of export procedures and in particular the implementation of an online system to process export documents. Of Cambodia’s total exports, Japan ranks fourth with a market share of 7.7 per cent.