Speaking 10

month, [MF co
Faisal Ahmed
the step take
ould reduce
the glo a! dO\,TI
"Despite the
down, Cambod
performance
driven b
economic
The we
to Eur
___________
Garment production will contribute to a predicted increase of seven per cent in Cambodiifs. -
Cambodea
vulnerable:
REPRESE ;1: TIVES ofadozen
Jarge Japanese camp ni s
ar rived in Phnom Penh on
looking for business
opportunities in me kingdom.
Hideto, hi Nishimura. execu
tive director of til e Economic
Research InstilUt for ASEAN
and East Asia, led the delega
tion. v, hose members r pre
sent fi rm in industries such as
technology. i vellery manufac
turing, infrastnJcrure develop
mentand agricu.lture.
peaking to report r after a
meeting between [he delega
IJOn and Prune MiniSler Hun
Sen on luesday at the Peace
Palace, the premier' personal
advi 'er. Eaog Sophalleth, said
Ni hlffiUIa hud [old Hun Sen
the group was s king poten
tial opport u.nities.
Sophalleth added that
Nishimura had said Cambo- I
dia" politi al st biilty and
seeuri , and th govemmenr's
busine , -frien dl y polie i s,
made the Ki ngdom an arrract
ive plac ro d business.
Hun Sen pointed out that the
c un try wa ripe for invest
men l in areas such as agri . ul
ture. rour' 'ro, mining, oil and
g s, transportation nd tele
COUl ml lOl cations.
In recem years, a number of
Japanese companies have
Invest din amhodia,
in manufacturing.
Last month, [okyo-based
aulo upplier Yazaki invested
$24 mill ion in an electronic
part plant in the Koh Kong Daniel de Carteret
SpeciaJ Economi Zone.
In September, AEO COill- A LTHOUGH the
nu tted $200 mill ion to buil d a I World Bank has cuL
four-Stor y shopping mall in its esti mate for gl o-
Phnom Penh. . a! growth is ye' r,
The del egation', vis it coin- a r port reI ased on Tuesday
cideswiLhJapilllesePri me Min- shows Its prediction for GDP
ister ShlnzoAbc'svisit thi week growth in Cambodia remains
to tbr fe How ASEAN coun- I consistent at 6 7 per cent.
tries - Vi tnam, Thailand and The World Bank predi cts a
Indonesia - his fi rstforeign trip continued .ambodian GDP
of his second term as premier. . cr ase of seven per cent in
( ee r lated tory on page 15.) 2014 and 2015.
Peler Brimble, deputycoun- .. rowth prospects in Cam-
try director oftheAsian Devel- bodia are based on a hievi ng
Ol}ment Bank, says the fl ow of the divi dend from a focus
Japan 'e in estment is help- I on high r ice production,
ing to di versify Cambodia's inflows of FDI Into th grow
export:;, which now rely most- ing gannent industry and a
lyon the agricultural and gar- growi ng tourism lndustry,"
ment sectors. th World Bank says.
"La I Y ar, we aw a type of I This growth i not without
diversifi cati on happening: we risk, however, as the East Asia
saw Japanese in\' ' tment com- I Pacific (EAP) region remai ns
ing ll1 like crazy. They build on vul nerable to a deepening of
factory, they finish it, they get it I the European crisis and fi
up and running. then they start Inancial tightening in the US
buil ding the next one in the - scenarios that could threat
Phnom Penh special economic en EAP countries' exports and
zone, in Koh Kong, or wherever. apital flows into the region.
"I think this will have a sig- Aligned with the World Bank
nificant impact on exports a.nd . prediction of 6.7 per cent
th eConomy in 2013," I growth, HirosI1i uzuki , head
, t .I
of the Business Reseal ch In
stitute of Cambodia, says the
Ki ngdom i making efforts
to reduce it reli ance on Ihe
U and Europe by di ersi fy
ing its export lnixand lrading
partners.
"The weak export of gar
menTS to Europe and the US
could be mitigated by the ex
port of automobile parts that
are now-produced by Japanese
ma.nufacturers such as Minc
bea, Sumitamo nd Yazaki
to Japan and neighbouring
cOlU1tries," Suzuki said.
goun Sokha, di rector
general of the National Bank
C nbodia ( BC), is confi
dent that Cambodia's bank
ing system is larg Iy ins ulated
from the uncert ainties of the
global fi nancial system.
"The banking system in
Cambodia isn't really integ
rated with the international
financi alsystem, " Sokha said.
"Our bank reli es on our own
capital and on [Cambodia.n
banks' ] deposit ollection for
issuing credit and their opera
tions, so they dOll't rely much
on capita! from Western coun
tries, especial] the eura zone."
bemi
'
ofp