Japan is in the news this week as the Cambodian PM attends the Mekong-Japan Summit and holds talks with the Japanese PM.

Cambodian PM to pay working visit to Japan
October 6, 2018 News
PHNOM PENH, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo HE will pay a working visit to Japan from Oct. 6-10, according to a foreign ministry statement on Thursday.

In Tokyo, he will attend the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit and deliver a speech focusing on the future direction of the Mekong-Japan cooperation, the statement said.

It added that on the sideline of the summit, the Cambodian prime minister will hold official talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe to discuss various bilateral, regional and international issues of common interests.
http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml ... -to-japan/

The new agreement will help to revitalise Japan's workforce, which is starting to struggle as the population ages out.
By: HRM Asia Newsroom | October 7, 2018
The Cambodian government has started training its youth and poorer residents for possible employment in Japan.

The country’s Labour Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japan and Cambodia Interactive Association (JCIA) to bring skilled Cambodians to Japan.

JCIA has been sending Cambodian trainees to work in Japan during the past two years, according to Labour Minister Ith Samheng.

There are now more than 8,000 Cambodians working in Japan.

Cambodia will continue to send more trainees to work in Japan in the next two years, although the exact number has not yet been made public.

Under the memorandum, 90 private recruitment companies and two organisations have been licensed to choose, train, send and manage Cambodians to work in Japan.

The sectors of focus are agriculture, fishing, construction, food processing, garment making, and elder care.
http://hrmasia.com/cambodia-trains-yout ... -in-japan/

October 8, 2018
Japan to host Mekong summit on Tuesday
TOKYO | Oct. 6, 2018

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will chair a summit on Tuesday attended by the leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam with enhanced connectivity in the region topping the agenda.

Tokyo will promote quality infrastructure development in the Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River to realize a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region based on a rules-based order and free trade, Japanese officials said.

"We will adopt new guidelines on Japan-Mekong cooperation and hope to strengthen relations with the region even further," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.

Deepening cooperation and promoting the integration of the Mekong region has been a priority for Japan as the area located between India and China, and facing the South China Sea, is strategically important when Beijing is increasing its clout in the region, the officials said.

Following up on the current strategy adopted in 2015, the leaders are expected to adopt a new one aimed at improving connectivity in the region through infrastructure building.

Demand for infrastructure investment in developing Asia is estimated at $26 trillion between 2016 and 2030, or $1.7 trillion per year, according to the Asian Development Bank. To meet the growing needs, policymakers and experts have called for more private-sector investment.
http://kimedia.blogspot.com/2018/10/jap ... .html#more

PM wants more Japanese investment in Cambodia
11 October 2018
Prime Minister HE, speaking at the Mekong- Japan Business Forum in Tokyo on October 9, invited Japanese firms to visit Cambodia and convince themselves that it a worthy country for their investments.

He told prospective Japanese investors of the policies and potentials of Cambodia, and that the Kingdom is open to economic expansion due to its political stability and national security.

The premier said that the Cambodian government welcomes all foreign investors, especially those from Japan.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/540098/pm- ... -cambodia/

Tokyo goes it alone in support of Myanmar and Cambodia
Japan offers economic aid with eye on crucial sea lanes in the region
SAKI HAYASHI, Nikkei staff writer
October 11, 2018 05:19 JST

The recent overtures toward Myanmar and Cambodia go against Japan's usual diplomatic strategy of supporting human rights and the rule of law to present a united front with the West against countries like China. But as Beijing's clout in Southeast Asia grows, Tokyo has been forced to try a different tack.

"China acts as an advocate for Myanmar and Cambodia in the U.N.," a Japanese diplomatic source said. China has vetoed a Security Council resolution criticizing Myanmar's handling of the Rohingya crisis, and also taken steps to curb critics of Cambodia's authoritarian regime.

Beijing showers the Southeast Asian nations with economic assistance in order to keep them on its side. Myanmar connects the Chinese mainland to the Bay of Bengal, and is a key overland link in Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. In addition, Cambodia is so close to China that it urges other countries not to bring up Beijing's military buildup in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, Japan relies on sea lanes passing through both countries' waters to import crude oil and liquefied natural gas. The region is crucial for Japan's economy and national security.

"If Japan withdrew from the region, Myanmar and Cambodia would only increase their dependence on China," a Japanese government source said. Tokyo is taking a political risk by standing by these countries, given it has little chance of outdoing Beijing in economic assistance. Even with Japan's efforts, the countries still lean toward China.

Western envoys are said to occasionally visit Japan's Foreign Ministry to question its approach. "Even if the West frowns on us, that's still better than letting China become the sole winner," an official at the ministry said.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Intern ... d-Cambodia

Japanese Grant to Build Bridges in the Provinces
13 October 2018
Phnom Penh, Cambodia News: The government of Japan has announced a grant of 3942 million yen (US $ 35 million) to build seven bridges in Cambodia: five bridges are to be built on National Road 73 in Kratie province, and two bridges on National Highway 11 in Prey Veng.

On October 3, 2018, at 10:00 am, HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, HE Mr. Prak Sokhonn, and His Excellency HORINOUCHI Hidehisa, the Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia, signed a letter of exchange granting a total of 35 million US dollars for emergency bridge projects in areas affected by flooding.

$30M Japanese Grant for Phnom Penh Sewers and Drains
October 31, 2018
Phnom Penh, Cambodia News: The Japanese government has decided to provide grants of around $30M for Phnom Penh city hall to upgrade the sewerage and drainage systems.

The work, overseen by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) , will begin by the end of next month.

There will be an underground water reservoir and pumping station in front of Council for the Development of Cambodia CDC as well as a mechanical installation to collect garbage at the Chaktomuk pumping station. 2 km of drainage networks are to be installed in the area of ​​Khan Daun Penh.

A look at Cambodian-Japanese diplomatic relations.

Reinvigorating Japan's twin-track diplomacy in Cambodia
by Sek Sophal and Yoichiro Sato
Apr 8, 2019

BEPPU, OITA PREF. - Amid the ongoing deterioration of democracy, human rights and media freedom in Cambodia and the country’s rising diplomatic tension with the European Union, Japan still maintains its low-profile diplomacy toward Cambodia. On March 12, the Japanese government invited 10 “young politics-oriented Cambodians” to pay a week-long official visit to Japan. This was the second time, following another such visit Japan organized in December.

According to a press release by the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh, “young politics-oriented Cambodians” were invited, but they were not ordinary youths. Those who took part in the recent visit were core members of Cambodian political parties. Among the invitees were Meas Sophorn, under secretary of state of the Ministry of Information, and Vann Chantho, under secretary of state of the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, who are rising politicians in the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party.

Meng Sopheary, one of the lawyers of an opposition party leader, and Soun Chamroeun, who is among the 118 banned politicians of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, were also among the invitees. Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in late 2017. Technically, therefore, it didn’t legally exist as an opposition party in Cambodia at the time of the visit. But with the recent invitations, the Japanese government in effect recognized the CNRP as a Cambodian political party. Japan is practicing its traditional “twin-track diplomacy” toward Cambodia by engaging with both opposition and the ruling parties to advance its economic and strategic interests.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/20 ... KvY_qJS_IU

Cambodia's silent investment from Japan: reform or realpolitik?
Human rights advocates criticize Tokyo for 'acting like China'
ANDREW NACHEMSON, Contributing writer
April 30, 2019
PHNOM PENH -- Japan continues to quietly invest in Cambodia even as the human rights situation deteriorates, leaving observers wondering if the Asian democracy is capitulating to China's influence or containing it.

On April 3, Prime Minister HE and Japanese Ambassador Hidehisa Horinouchi presided over a ceremony celebrating the reopening of the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge. HE, who once received a birthday serenade from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, hailed the bridge as a "gift to the Cambodian people for the upcoming Khmer New Year." Just up the river, the Cambodian-Chinese Friendship Bridge loomed in the distance.

Japan, unlike Western powers, has maintained close ties with Cambodia as regards to major projects. Just in the past six weeks, Japan inaugurated a $26 million water treatment plant, pledged $16 million for a new traffic management system in Phnom Penh, and racked up $30 million on repairs for the bridge.

According to the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Japan has steadily increased its funding of projects in Cambodia in recent years. The Overseas Development Assistance database shows Japanese spending increasing from $119.7 million in 2016 to $171.8 million in 2018 -- the year after Kem Sokha, leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, was arrested and the party forcibly dissolved. The database also places an estimate for 2019 spending surging to $249.4 million.

In contrast, assistance from the European Union and U.S. has steadily declined, with the EU dropping to a projected $26.7 million for 2018 from $70.3 million in 2014. The U.S. similarly declined to $35.7 million from $91.6 million over the same period.

Cambodia's deteriorating relationship with the West has coincided with a diplomatic shift toward China and an assault on Cambodia's democracy and press. Prior to the 2018 national election, Sokha's arrest and the CNRP's dissolution paved the way for HE's party to claim all 125 seats in the National Assembly. The U.S. and EU condemned the election as neither free nor fair, with the EU initiating a process to remove their preferential trade agreement with Cambodia.

Japan has broken with its democratic allies, sounding more like geopolitical rival China, as Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, congratulated HE on his "overwhelming victory."
Full article: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Intern ... ealpolitik