Hedging China risks, Japan firms turn to booming SE Asia
Hiroshi Uematsu had a tough start in Cambodia, where he heads an economic zone that aims to attract business from his native Japan. He arrived just before the global financial crisis sent the Asian Economic Minnow’s exports into a tailspin and dried up investment interest. Now, though, business is looking up. About a third of the lots on the 365-hectare (900-acre) site on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh remain vacant and overgrown, roamed by scrawny cattle. But they are being snapped up by household Japanese company names such as Yamaha Motor, food maker Ajinomoto and electronics firm Minebea. …
