Cambodia Can Do
Financial reforms, expressway tourism, Vietnamese visitors, fast bike exports, not enough renewables, political traitors, gambling criminals and food security
UPDATE: Today’s special focus on Cambodia marks the final special issue on the Lancang/Mekong Six. Cambodia is heading into an election cycle and while the economy is reviving quickly and the government is keen to implement reforms, problems remain. In this issue of the Long Mekong Daily, readers get a brief overview of the economic and political landscape and might wonder at how the much maligned Cambodia has acheived an average of 7% GDP growth for a decade, and that includes the Covid pandemic. Wow!
Wider Distribution of Financial Services Needed
Financial inclusion in Cambodia remains limited despite the Kingdom’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) realising a 7 percent year on year average over the past decade. While the financial system has been developed and modernised rapidly, 30 percent of the adult population remain excluded from financial services.
Chea Serey, Assistant Governor and Director General of Central Banking of NBC, delivering a keynote address at the International Money Museum Conference on “The New Era of Financial Education” held recently in Hungary said that even though the central bank launched a flagship campaign titled “Let’s Talk Money” in both digital and physical format, this method has mainly reached youth, while older citizens and those living in remote areas had limited access to the information. Khmer Times
Online Gambling Crackdown Continues
Cambodian police have cracked down more than 10,000 illegal gambling sites and arrested over 200 people over the past month, the National Police confirmed. Speaking at a press conference on ‘The achievements of the Ministry of Interior over the past five years,’ National Police spokesman Lieutenant General Chhay Kim Khoeun said, “that authorities had raided more than 10,000 suspected illegal gambling operations nationwide, enforcing the law at 127 locations in 11 provincial capitals and other areas and sending 273 people to court.” From September 15 to October 13, authorities had raided many suspected locations and took legal action against 127 locations. Authorities have collected evidence to send to court and built a case against 273 people, including 56 foreigners representing 11 nationalities.” The National Police spokesman added that the other locations under suspicion of illegal gambling didn’t have enough concrete evidence to build a case, but authorities instructed the establishments’ owners and made them sign a contract not to engage in gambling. AG Brief
Cambodia Seeks More Vietnamese Visitors
The Cambodian tourism ministry’s goal of attracting 700,000 annual Vietnamese arrivals by 2023 and one million by 2024 may seem relatively easy to achieve to some, but it could require a new series of well-informed strategies as well as the effective implementation and promotion thereof, industry insiders say. Ministry figures show that annual Vietnamese arrivals to the Kingdom peaked in 2015 at 987,792, falling by 8.00 per cent to 908,803 in 2019, prior to Covid-19. These figures also trended down in terms of market share, from 20.69 per cent in 2015 to 13.75 per cent in 2019.
This year, Cambodia has logged just 235,546 Vietnamese arrivals in January-August, most of whom declared “holiday” as their purpose of visit, at 170,858 or 72.54 per cent, followed by “business” (64,359; 27.32 per cent) and “other” (329; 0.14 per cent). August alone accounted for 19.43 per cent of the eight-month total, at 45,764, which marked a 1.67 per cent dip from July. Minister of Tourism Thong Khon on Oct 12 had a meeting with Vietnamese ambassador Nguyen Huy Tang where both sides agreed to push for an expansion of and more substantial progress in tourism cooperation, the ministry noted in a statement. Khon asked Hanoi to encourage more of its citizens to choose Cambodia as their holiday destination, so as to meet his ministry’s goals for Vietnamese arrivals by their respective years. The Star
Cambodia Food Security Initiative
The Royal Government of Cambodia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) yesterday called for greater investment in the transformation of food systems to ensure food and nutrition security and to cope with shocks and crises, according to a joint statement. The appeal was made on World Food Day, the statement said, adding that Cambodia has put in place the National Roadmap for Food Systems for Sustainable Development 2030, Xinhua reported.
“As a nation, we need to transform food supply chains to ensure the system can deliver quality and nutritious food for all Cambodians through investment in innovation, technology and digital system,” Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry’s Secretary of State Om Kimsir said.
Antonio Schiavone, officer in charge of FAO Representation in Cambodia, said because agrifood systems are interlinked to so many different areas of lives and economy, ranging from agriculture to natural resources to energy to health, they hold great potential as vehicles for a more equitable and prosperous future. Khmer Times
Domestic Travel On Express Journey
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that some 200,000 vehicles had traveled on the kingdom's first-ever expressway since it was open to the public for trial use for free on Oct 1. Invested by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, the US$2-billion Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway connects the capital Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk. "It's good for Preah Sihanouk provincial residents because a lot of people have visited there, traveling on the expressway for free of charge for a month's trial use," Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony of some 6,400 students at the National University of Management in Phnom Penh. Preah Sihanouk provincial spokesman Kheang Phearom said on Monday that some 125,000 national and international tourists visited Preah Sihanouk province this weekend. "The increase in tourists came after the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway was put into trial operation for one month from Oct 1 to 31 for free," he said. China Daily
Cambodia Requires Renewables
The UN weather agency, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), released a report last week urging countries across the world to double the production of renewable energy in eight years to meet the carbon neutral targets of 2050. The urgent appeal for governments everywhere was to switch to cleaner forms of energy, such as solar, wind and hydro-electric power ending the over-reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and coal for power generation. Cambodia is committed to being carbon neutral by 2050 but some experts cast doubts on the country achieving this target with its current slow approach to turning away from coal and oil. For example, the country agreed in 2019 to buy 2,400MW of power generated by coal from Laos by 2027 and is now in real danger of nearly doubling its fuel share from fossils to over 70 percent by 2040 instead of reducing the dependency on the climate-damaging energy source.
According to Natharoun Ngo Son, the Country Director of EnergyLab Asia, though Cambodia has a good share of renewable energy, mainly coming from hydropower, about 45 percent in 2021, and possibly 70 percent now in October 2022 due to high water levels, this can change if the country does not shift gear regarding its commitments for purchasing coal-generated power. He told Khmer Times that the Kingdom has an opportunity to considerably increase its share of solar power, from six percent today, up to 30 percent in 2040. But the current Cambodia Power Development Plan (PDP 2040) set a target of only 14 percent of the share of electricity coming from solar sources by 2040. Khmer Times
Bicycle Exports Accelerate
Export of bicycles from Cambodia to various countries, including developed economies, continues to set new records. Between January and September of 2022, the bicycles sector contributed around $700 million to the overall export pool. The rapid export growth is also evident from the fact that the Kingdom of Cambodia had for the first six months (January-June) of this year reported earnings of $505 million from bicycle exports. Announced by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Commerce, the figure was a 104 percent increase over the same period of the previous year, which was also the period when the Corona pandemic was raging across the globe.
According to a report of the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia, the Kingdom mainly exports bicycles to the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Japan, China and South Korea. Secretary of State and spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, Seang Thai attributed the growth of Cambodia’s bicycle exports to the improvement in the Covid-19 situation, the increasing demand for exercise bikes, and various measures being taken by ministries, private firms and other institutions to attract customers and promote the sector. Khmer Times
Turkey Expands Cambodia Trade Relations
The commerce minister on October 13 asked the Turkish ambassador to encourage players from the transcontinental country to invest in Cambodian agricultural, agro-industrial and food processing projects that align with Islamic principles. The envoy revealed that Ankara plans to open a trade office at her embassy to better coordinate efforts to reinforce bilateral trade and investment relations, according to the commerce ministry. During a meeting held at his ministry, Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak also requested that Ulku Kocaefe, the newly-minted ambassador, advocate for direct flights between the two countries to cash in on the Kingdom’s abundant supply of raw materials for production, the ministry said in a statement. The minister stressed that Cambodia has emerged as a promising investment hub, with continuous improvements in hard infrastructure which he said are conducive to trade as well as integration into regional and global production chains. Phnom Penh Post
FedEx Expands in Cambodia
FedEx Express is to establish a commercial presence in Cambodia to help service the country’s growing international shipping demands. The move means businesses in Cambodia can more readily access FedEx shipping solutions, such as digital tools to make shipping easier and more efficient. This includes tracking shipment status in real time, scheduling courier pickups and managing billing. FedEx will also have dedicated sales and customer service staff on ground to provide logistics expertise as local businesses seek to grow cross-border trade. Economic recovery in Cambodia is gathering pace, with exports this year up 20% on the same period in 2021 – hitting US$27bn during the first half of 2022. FedEx Express APAC President Kawal Preet said: “Many of Cambodia’s biggest trading partners are in North America and Europe, making a network like ours essential to provide greater access to international markets. “As Cambodia’s stature in global trade continues to grow, its businesses need a more comprehensive range of services to help fuel the local economy.” FedEx has been involved in Cambodia since 1994, offering international shipping solutions and connectivity through local service provider TSP Express. Supply Chain Digital
Mister “Never Win” Rainsy is a Traitor
Prime Minister Hun Sen today had strong words for former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, after Mr Sam announced that ‘There must be a change in Cambodia in 2023’. Speaking at the graduation ceremony for more than 6,000 students of the National University of Management on the morning of October 17, 2022, the PM stated: “In the history of 500 years, no one is as corrupt as [Sam Rainsy], [Sam Rainsy] is too corrupt…I want to say that since I studied a lot since Ponhea Yat built Phnom Penh, [in] 500 years, no one is more corrupt.”
The PM further stated that all political parties involved in the ‘three generations of traitors’ of Sam Rainsy will be sued in court as those who have these beliefs want to overthrow the Royal Government. “If you talk about the election, okay, but you participate in events that are subversive outside of democracy, outside the constitutional system, you will be punished,” he said. On October 16, 2022, Sam Rainsy, who is living in exile in France, announced again a plan to overthrow the Royal Government of Cambodia in 2023, as Cambodia will hold national elections next year. Through his Facebook page, Sam Rainsy called on the Cambodian people and the armed forces to change the leadership in Cambodia next year, stating: ‘There must be a change in Cambodia in 2023’. The PM rebuked Mr. Sam for not thinking of pushing Cambodia’s democracy forward, but overthrowing it. The PM added “I do not think about pushing the democratic process through elections, thinking about mobilizing people to overthrow Hun Sen in 2023 and let the armed forces rise up again. That is a matter of imprisonment now.”