(1) Minebea Midwifed and Taken Care of; First Comes First Served; from USD 32 Million to Over USD 600 Million in Capital
This is my fourth time here at the Minebea factory whereas Mr. Yoshihisa Kainuma just reminded you of my word that I have been the one who midwifed the project and taken care of the growth. Of course, my commitment has now become a reality. That starts with trust. The big thing that we learnt from this experience is that the growing project is stemming from trust, so to speak. Companies trust the Royal Government and the Royal Government trusts the company. The workers trust the company and the Royal Government, while the Royal Government trust the workers and the company. These are points of growth not only in Minebea, but also across the investment landscape. As I have already said I would just catch the fish that comes first. There is no need to wait for the next big fish or small fish, because Cambodia is in a state of scarcity and investment.
Eleven years ago, I met Kainuma. We allowed the company to invest exclusively on certain items, and then there were other companies coming later wanted the same business investment status saying to us that Minebea is a very small company. I told them that – firstly, the fish that came first, I ate first. I cannot wait for the next big fish; and secondly, I pointed out to them that if I violated Minebea’s trust, that said company would also be abused by the government in the future. This is the point that makes a company, not just this one company, understand. I have talked about a lot of companies the same thing […]
I am very proud to have contributed to this company birth project and growth (in Cambodia) and other stakeholders to make this investment a success, starting with a capital of about US$ 32 million and more than 1,000 workers to now more than 600 million US dollars with more than 6,000 workers, and of these more than 6,000 workers, 178 are currently pregnant female workers. It’s okay to have babies at this time. By the time you give birth it will be a good month. In the period of Covid-19, I have a lot of stories. Before Covid-19, the birth rate seemed to have fallen. As the Covid-19 kicked in, the birth rate has suddenly increased […]
(2) Company Makes Profitable, Workers’ Salaries and Benefits Better; Minebea Plant Did Not Close Down during Covid-19 Attack
Today is a happy day, not a sad day. I am very proud and thankful to Minebea for helping train more than 5,000 Cambodian workers abroad while at the same time promoting the training here. The benefits that workers receive from the project are really reasonable, […] through (works and incomes), our children here also have opportunities to help their parents’ families who are still farmers or have other occupations. If you continue to work hard to make the factory profitable, your profits will be higher, and your benefits and salaries will also be growing. I have learned that the benefits here go beyond what is set out by the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, and the determination of the Royal Government. That is an issue relating to the basic salary determined by the factory […]
I would take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the factory managers as well as all of our workers here who have successfully participated in the fight against Covid-19. Yes, there are some infections, but after we have taken all our efforts, we have reduced the number of infections, the number of deaths, and managed to control Covid-19. The Minebea plant seems to have never closed down. It means that workers have paid attention to personal welfare issues, not to bring infectious diseases into the factory. I really thank you for all your efforts to take care of your own health […] If you are not careful, transmitting the virus into the factory will cause the factory to close and the workers’ interests will be affected, especially the production line that supplies to the global market. This points to our efforts.
In addition, our workers here were fully vaccinated. Now I want to ask, how many children have all been vaccinated here? […] at the beginning phase of Covid-19, some rich countries’ newspapers were very derogatory about Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh and some countries’ weak health system. As we are proving them wrong, do they regret for having insulted us concerning Covid-19 management? The problem of Covid-19 management does not rest entirely on advanced health system or the weak health system (alone). Fighting with invisible enemies is a difficult battle that requires us to work with people, not with machines. The machine is the next thing. Since we have feeble health systems, we need to work with people to get them accept health measures set by the Ministry of Health or the Royal Government […]
We apologize for any inconvenience this (Covid-19 infection on me) may have caused to the reception preparation organized by the French presidency. We also canceled our participation as chair of ASEAN at the APEC summit (in Thailand), where there are also plans to meet with the French and Chinese presidents. This Covid-19 seems to have been successful in infecting people in senior positions. As I have just recovered and healed, some dignitaries are catching it. Well, this is not partial. It will come to you no matter how big or small you are in position. Workers and people in the Kingdom of Cambodia continue the fight with Covid-19 because it is not going anywhere but staying near us […]
(3) Smart LED Light Bulbs Produced in Cambodia and Exported to Japan; More Than 62% of Energy Comes from Hydropower, Solar, and Biomass; Japanese Investors – Price of Electricity and Skilled Labor; Learning from Japanese Management Experience
I am happy that the products made in this plant, this Cambodian handicraft, is distributed to the world market, such as smart light bulbs that are sent to Japan and also equipped in Cambodia. I would like to inform the provincial/capital governors to continue to use smart light bulbs for street and make orders from factories since they are made in our country. This smart LED light bulb is beneficial for us. On a long road, if there are no cars passing by, this lamp will reduce the light and the light is dimmed, also saving energy […]
Electricity is part of the investment involved. Mr. Kainuma raised the issue of clean energy. We have worked hard on clean energy so far. More than 62% of our energy comes from hydropower, solar, and biomass. Cambodia can be considered a country with clean renewable energy sources. Regeneration is similar to or may be higher than some countries in the region, but any investment must consider its impact. We will continue to expand the renewal panel, the so-called solar panel. As far as I know, Mr. Keo Rattanak (the man in charge of electricity energy) reported to me that he will take Mr. Kainuma to Pursat to install a 90-megawatt plant there. Well, if you want to have another plant out there, it is a good thing just to take energy from the source.
When it comes to investing in Cambodia, Japanese investors always asked me two important things – firstly, electricity prices. That is according to my experience working with Japanese investors. The price of electricity is about profit. Secondly, they asked about the skilled labor. That is why we need to promote more human resource training. Minebea does not stop expanding in just over 6,000 people. There is further expansion. This is just the eleventh year, and Minebea will be here with us, not just for 20 or 30 years. It can stay with us until after Mr. Kainuma […]
I appreciate the relationship between the workers and the factory owner because there is no discontent in this factory. Through compromise, every side benefits, including respect for the rights of our workers. According to the memorandum, workers who use own vehicles will receive an allowance of US$ 7 per month. If we do not have (a vehicle), you also get that money […] with provision of three meals a day. This is the Japanese way of management. We learn from them. Companies in our country also learn about the Japanese management experience […] we will continue to work together and all of you need to further increase your knowledge through hard work, and increase your ability to become more skilled […] the company will be able to produce more, and it may have higher technical requirements, greater demand in the world […]
(4) Minebea Stays because Cambodia Has Peace and Political Stability; Toyota Assembly Line Will Come to Cambodia; Rights Cannot Be Fulfilled under Bullet and Instability
Attacked by Covid-19, factories in Thailand or Vietnam closed down and some supply chains had to start from Cambodia. Even clothes, shoes, bags, since some of our neighboring countries in our region have to stop supplying to the market where order used to come from. They come to order from Cambodia because Cambodia is safe. On the other hand, if Cambodia is insecure, they also increase production capacity in another linked country. This is an experience that I speak to investors from other countries regarding the successful example of Minebea here […]
We also need to know exactly what Minebea can stay with us. What are the factors? The biggest factors are peace and political stability. This is an important point. It’s not just Minebea, but all other companies, both foreign and domestic, cannot do business if the country is at war. They cannot grow if the country is not politically stable. Looking at Ukraine, who would want to go investing in Ukraine at this time, apart from fleeing Ukraine. Our troops are in four countries – Lebanon, where there can be some investments, but in Mali, in Central Africa, in South Sudan, no one might risk investing in a war-torn country. In the past few days, our troops have been wounded in Mali by landmines while they were on their way. All of you must remember, without peace there can be no development […]
The biggest thing is to keep the peace in order to keep the existing companies and attract new companies to our country. I would emphasize that during my conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, while attending the funeral of His Excellency Shinzo Abe, Japan asks for Cambodia’s supports of a new project related to the establishment of a Toyota assembly line. Not far from our factory, there will soon be a Toyota car assembly plant that Oknha Kith Meng brought to my attention just now […] we do not just expand existing companies. We attract other companies. We already have a number of companies that come to assemble cars in Cambodia. In Koh Kong there are Yazaki, Hyundai, and in Phnom Penh and in Pursat there is Ford. Soon we have Toyota in this place […]
As long as we try to maintain peace, we can set up the necessary infrastructure, both hard and soft – hard refers to related issues such as roads, ports, electricity and other areas that serve investment; and soft is to train human resources to supply the needs of the labor market. Let’s work together. Without peace, there is no absolute development. Peace creates everything afterwards – the right to life, the right to education, the right to political rights, and other rights – including those of the democratic process through elections. Those rights cannot be done under the bullet and instability. That is why I have repeatedly said that peace must be maintained. Based on our experience, we cannot wait until peace is gone and we start calling for it […]
(5) Cambodia-Japan Relations – from Strategic to Comprehensive Strategic One; Economic Relations Makes Stronger Political Relations; Company Profits, Workers Benefits, RGC’s Economic Growth; Subsidy for Factories Workers Stops, for Hotel Workers Continues
[…] Next year, Cambodia and Japan will usher in a special year. The Prime Minister of Cambodia and the Prime Minister of Japan met four times this year […] we have decided together to enhance the level of bilateral relations from a strategic partner to a comprehensive strategic partner. Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (between the two countries). I am happy to have worked with Japan in the past. We have a lot of work to do. As Minebea wanted to set up a factory in Pursat, it is a good thing because the National Road 5 which has two lanes to and two lanes from that Japan helped is now ready. Transportation is now easy to supply to other places. In particular, there is this port at Sihanoukville, if goods need to be shipped on water.
[…] We want Japanese investors to come to Cambodia. Japan opens up large markets to import goods into Cambodia. I am happy to see the increase in trade volume between Cambodia and Japan through Japanese companies investing in Cambodia. Once we have the products, we exported to Japan. We can continue to do that to improve the level of relations. Remember, in the relations between countries, the more economic relations they have, the stronger political relations there will be accordingly […] we really have a problem that needs to be improved. It’s not enough, it needs to be reformed faster, better, the right investment decision-making process has been tightened to ensure that the company is profitable and the workers will reap the benefits from the operation of those factories.
The government also gets economic growth or tax increase. This is what we need to do. I think in the future our country will continue to grow because we are in peace, and politically stable. That is a fundamental basis for development. The competition is definitely there. Although the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war are now being felt, they have not been that completely disruptive to the global production chain. Agriculture, industry or services, of course, have the effects of rising oil prices, rising fertilizer prices, rising electricity prices that Europe is facing. We also have had impacts.
[…] The Royal Government is only happy to see that our nephews (let me say so) have jobs […]. Seeing their children having a hard time losing their jobs because the factories are closing, it is difficult for us. We had provided subsidies for them, where the factories contributed 30 USD, and the government staked 40 USD. Now that situation is gone for the manufacturing sector. We continue, however, to supply hotel workers so that they can earn some money to help their parents’ farming […]./.
