Top Japanese retailer Aeon will offer international logistics services in Cambodia, drawn by Southeast Asia’s rising trade and cross-border e-commerce as the company seeks new growth drivers.
Subsidiary Aeon Mall plans to build a roughly 30,000-sq.-meter logistics center in a special economic zone near the southern port of Sihanoukville. It aims to launch the business in fiscal 2023, offering import storage, customs clearance and support for cross-border online retail.
Cambodia — part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest trade bloc — has plans to develop part of the economic zone as a free trade port, with backing from the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The center will feature Cambodia’s first bonded warehouse, which lets importers store products from abroad without paying duties before they go through customs procedures. Companies can leave large quantities of goods there for a certain period of time, gradually withdrawing them as needed and paying any applicable tariffs at that time.
Demand for such facilities is growing worldwide as a way to raise supply chain efficiency and manage costs.
Aeon Mall, which operates two shopping centers in Cambodia, looks to have mall tenants use the bonded warehouse to store imports from Japan, Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere. It also will market its services to local retailers and e-commerce companies, along with Japanese consumer products makers looking to sell in Cambodia, and anticipates appliance and auto manufacturers will store parts at the facility.
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January 08, 2022
