Toyota looks to Poipet for Thai expansion

TOYOTA Motor Corp’s (TM) trading a rm Toyota Tsusho Corp (T YO), is to bui ld a second renta l pla nt in Banteay Meanchey prov i nce’s Techno Park Poi Pet to support t he Japa nese firm’s pla ns to f ur t her ex pand into t he Thai market.

Naoto Sugita, the business park’s deputy managing director, told NNA News that TYO’s wholly owned, Poipet-based subsidiary Techno Park Poi Pet Pvt Corp had signed a contract with JapaneseCambodian venture Sanco Cambo Investment Group Corp, which operates a special economic zone (SEZ) in Poipet, to build the facility.

According to the report, TYO is set to complete construction of the 8,000sqm factory in Techno Park Poi Pet – four hours from the Thai capital Bangkok – in August next year.

The amount of investment in the project was not disclosed.

Official Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) data shows there were 141 Japanese investment projects in Cambodia as of September, with $2.5 billion in capital investment.

Of these, 66 are located in SEZs with an estimated capital investment of $340 million, according to the CDC.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng, an investor in several rental warehouses and factories, said the move was indicative of the increased demand in investing in Cambodia’s manufacturing sector.

Heng told The Post that a growing number of investors from China, South Korea and Japan had sought out Cambodia as a manufacturing base to export automotive parts, consumer electronics and other goods for the global market.

“The high demand for rental factories has increased rental prices to $2.50 per square metre, up from $1.80 last year,” he said.

Poipet has become an increasingly attractive destination for Japanese firms who are struggling with rising wages and poor labour management in neighbouring Thailand.

The new rental factory is to provide other services such as logistics, staffing, education and customs clearance.

TYO said it may build a third facility in the Kingdom if there is the demand.

In 2016, TYO built its first rental factory in Techno Park, where five other firms also produce automotive and electrical components and other goods.