Outward bound
A weak domestic economy is spurring Japanese firms to expand abroad
![Hun Sen is shopping, just like Japan Inc](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/sites/default/files/images/print-edition/20141101_FNP004_0.jpg)
IT IS not every day that the opening of a shopping centre attracts a prime minister, but then Aeon Mall in Phnom Penh is not any old shopping centre. The Japanese-built complex is Cambodia’s biggest, complete with an ice rink, television studio and bowling alley. For Hun Sen, the attending prime minister, it is a symbol of Japanese investment. Governments across South-East Asia are courting Japanese firms, and a torrent of yen is surging their way.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Outward bound”
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