Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is not visiting Cambodia during a visit to the region due to time constraints, an official at the country’s embassy in Phnom Penh has said.
Mr. Kishida is currently on a weeklong tour of Thailand, Burma, Laos and Vietnam, where he is scheduled to arrive today—Cambodia being the only country in mainland Southeast Asia not on his itinerary.
Naoaki Kamoshida, a counselor at the Japanese Embassy, said in an email on Tuesday night that this did not mean Japan had forgotten Cambodia. “Although Mr. Kishida is not visiting Cambodia due to time constraint this time, Japan regards the bilateral relationship with Cambodia [as] very important and would like to continue close cooperation on various matters,” he said.
In Bangkok on Monday, the Japanese foreign minister unveiled plans for about $7 billion in investment in the Mekong region over the next three years, but news reports did not say whether Cambodia would be among the recipients.
Mr. Kamoshida said that it would be. “It is recognized that Cambodia…is a significant partner in materializing this initiative in the region,” he said.
