Japan-Cambodia Association was established in November 1963. The Association has been active for half a century as Cambodia has traced its history of civil war, the Paris peace process, reconstruction, and economic growth. Following the reform of the public interest corporation system in 2008, we have been making every effort to realize the transition to a general incorporated association since August 2013. As a result, the Cabinet Office approved our transition at the end of March 2014, and we will restart as a general incorporated association on April 1, 2014. On the occasion of this fresh start, I would like to unite with you, our board members, to renew our spirit and further develop our association's venerable history, and we will strive to make great strides forward.
Fortunately, we were able to get off to a good start on June 18 of the same year by successfully holding the first ordinary general meeting (the inaugural general meeting) and adopting the activity policy, etc. for the first year. We also welcomed H.E. Masahiko Komura, Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, as Honorary President, and H.E. Yoshiaki Ishizawa, Professor of Sophia University, and H.E. Kyosuke Shinozawa, President of the Capital Market Research Institute Foundation, as Honorary Vice Presidents. In recent years, Cambodia has achieved peace, political stability, and sustained rapid economic growth, and in line with these developments, Japanese companies have increased their investment in Cambodia, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), showing increasing interest and performance in Cambodia. The role of the Association is becoming more and more important. We sincerely look forward to your interest in Cambodia and welcome you to join our association.
