Hun Manet in Melbourne
Prime Minister Hun Manet arrived in Melbourne for the Asean-Australia Special Summit, aiming to strengthen strategic partnerships and regional cooperation. But Gareth Evans was not all smiles.
PM Hun Manet in Melbourne for Asean-Australia Summit, Bilateral Talks
By Geeta Pillai
PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Manet has arrived in Melbourne, Australia, to attend the Asean-Australia Special Summit scheduled for March 4-6. This pivotal gathering is set to chart the future course of relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Australia, highlighting the commitment to deepening ties through strategic partnership initiatives. The summit will see the adoption of the Melbourne Declaration and the Asean-Australia Leaders' Vision Statement, marking a significant step in regional cooperation.
Setting the Stage for Enhanced Cooperation
During the Special Summit, leaders from Asean and Australia are expected to lay down future directions and further cement their relations through the full and effective implementation of key priorities under the Asean-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This collaboration aims to foster mutual understanding, economic growth, and stability in the region, demonstrating the importance of international dialogue in addressing common challenges.
Strengthening Bilateral Relations
Amid the summit's broader regional focus, Prime Minister Hun Manet's agenda includes crucial bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and several Asean leaders. These discussions are anticipated to further strengthen Cambodia's ties with Australia and its Asean neighbors, enhancing cooperation in areas such as trade, security, education, and environmental protection. Such bilateral engagements underscore the significance of nurturing individual country relationships within the larger framework of Asean-Australia partnership.
Anticipated Outcomes of the Summit
The summit is not just a ceremonial gathering but a forum for substantive action and commitment. The adoption of the Melbourne Declaration and the Asean-Australia Leaders' Vision Statement are highly anticipated, as these documents will outline the roadmap for future cooperation between Asean member states and Australia. These initiatives are expected to contribute significantly to regional peace, prosperity, and security, showcasing the commitment of Asean and Australia to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
As the Asean-Australia Special Summit unfolds, the eyes of the world are on Melbourne, where decisions made will influence the trajectory of regional relations. The engagement of Prime Minister Hun Manet in these high-level talks not only elevates Cambodia's role on the international stage but also opens avenues for enhanced collaboration that could bring tangible benefits to the Cambodian people. The outcomes of this summit promise to usher in a new chapter of Asean-Australia relations, with far-reaching implications for regional dynamics.
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PM Hun Manet meets top Australian business leaders
Several top Australian business leaders yesterday evinced interest in trade collaborations and investment opportunities in Cambodia as Prime Minister Hun Manet met them in separate meetings during his visit to the country.
On the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Mr Hun Manet received Daniel Phillips, President of Aegros and Freshstart Logistics, during a courtesy call, according to a press release.
Aegros and Freshstart Logistics are subsidiaries of Fresh Start Australia with Aegros doing healthcare business focusing on the production of plasma drugs. Fresh Start Logistics specializes in logistics, providing innovative and vibrant solutions.
During the meeting, Phillips revealed the company’s intention to seek investment opportunities in Cambodia in many areas, including logistics, energy and health.
The Prime Minister also received Paul Serra, CEO of SunRice Group, during another courtesy call. The company is a leading food exporter with major markets in the US, the Pacific and the Middle East, as well as in Europe and Asia.
The company also has operations and markets around the world, especially in the supply of nutritional products to nearly 50 countries.
During the meeting, the CEO informed Mr Hun Manet that SunRice Group is the first Australian company to import rice from Cambodia to Australia and New Zealand.
He noted that Cambodia has great potential in the agricultural sector, with Cambodian rice having a world-renowned reputation. The country also has a highly competitive, young labour force, stable electricity prices, good transport infrastructure and cellular interface and a growing logistics sector.
The SunRice Group, he said, is interested in further strengthening and expanding relations with Cambodia in the agricultural sector, focusing on the rice processing industry. For this, the company plans to invest in rice processing plants, especially in producing organic rice for export.
The Prime Minister, on his part, provided details about the Royal Government’s efforts to boost the agriculture sector by deploying experts in local communes throughout the country to support farmers technically and to increase productivity.
The Prime Minister also drew attention to the expansion of transport infrastructure and logistics systems in the country and the implementation of policies for the development of the power sector, emphasizing that the Royal Government has been giving priority to the use of clean and renewable energy.
Mr Hun Manet reminded that Cambodia has also taken steps to improve connectivity as well as provide cost-effective shipping. He urged Australian companies to visit Cambodia to seek more investment opportunities with the relevant ministries and institutions.
Another top business leader who met with the Prime Minister was Tanachat Pochana, President of Enserv Holding Australia. The company is a leader in clean energy, emissions reduction and climate change.
The company’s vision is to provide energy solutions through clean energy innovation and clean energy generation.
During the meeting, the President of the company informed the Prime Minister about the business activities of the company, especially its venture into sorghum cultivation. The company has the ability to process this high-protein crop that can also be used to produce biogas.
Sorghum is a non-GMO, gluten-free, ancient grain that is most commonly used as feed for livestock but is also a popular food grain for people residing in Asia and Africa. It does not need much water as rice, and can also contribute to the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
He added that Cambodia is suitable for cultivating this crop and expressed the company’s intention to seek investment opportunities in this regard in Cambodia.
In response, the Prime Minister said that the Royal Government has set a policy to develop the agricultural sector in Cambodia through the use of modern technology.
He also stated the Royal Government’s efforts in the electricity sector, especially in the use of modern and new technologies to generate power with a focus on clean energy.
The Prime Minister noted that the Royal Government has also decided to suspend the issuance of permits for the construction of new coal-fired power plants in the country.
Mr Hun Manet also received Peter Fox, CEO of Linfox Company, during another courtesy call and held discussions with him. Linfox was founded in 1956 with over six decades of experience in the transportation industry.
Linfox is a leading logistics company in the Asia-Pacific region and has operations in 12 countries with more than 24,000 employees in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the Prime Minister also received Bran Black, Executive Director of the Business Council of Australia, for discussions, the press release said.
It may be noted that over the last five decades, Australia has been a strong development partner of Cambodia and provided almost $2 billion in development assistance to the country.
A lot of these investments supported Cambodia’s early reconstruction efforts in the 1990s, including infrastructure, demining, agriculture, health and education.
In August last year, Australia released a new international development policy that sets out over 30 commitments to deliver a more effective, responsive, transparent and accountable programme.
Among its key commitments, the policy identified ambitious targets and action on climate change, gender equality, supporting locally-led development, and a reinvigorated approach to the country’s strategic planning.
Australia is also Cambodia’s biggest supporter in the energy sector reforms such as efforts to raise the share of renewable energy in the total energy mix.
Read more here.
Cambodia’s new leader may sound like a reformer in Australia next week, but little has changed back home
By Gareth Evans
When Cambodia’s new prime minister, Hun Manet, visits Melbourne next week for the ASEAN Australia Summit, he may seem a welcome change from his long-serving authoritarian father Hun Sen. But hopes for a democratic and human rights renaissance in this genocide-ravaged and long-misgoverned country remain sadly misplaced.
Hun Sen, who had ruled Cambodia for 38 years, transferred power to his son, the 45-year-old Hun Manet, last August.
In Australia next week, the soft-spoken, Western-educated and technocratically savvy Hun Manet will likely present himself as the face of a modern, developing Cambodia, talking the talk of economic reform and more effective governance. However, his father’s talk back home is jail for his critics. And his father continues to call the shots that matter.
Hun Sen, still only 71, remains president of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and is in practical control of what effectively remains a one-party state. And he is, for good measure, the de facto constitutional head of state, as well.
As the expected new president of the Senate, he will act for King Norodom Sihamoni when he is out of the country – as the king often has been, not least when controversial legislation has been signed into force.
The governing CPP has successfully used broad defamation laws to prosecute government critics in the courts. Last year, an opposition leader, Son Chhay, a dual Cambodian-Australian citizen, was ordered to pay $US1 million (A$1.5 million) in damages for saying the CPP bought and stole votes. Jail awaits if he cannot pay.
Commenting on this case, the deputy head of one of the country’s leading NGOs, Soeng Sengkaruna, whose long record of defending human rights was detailed in co-author Gordon Conochie’s book A Tiger Rules the Mountain – Cambodia’s Pursuit of Democracy, said the CPP should stop using the courts to silence the opposition.
This led the party to sue him this month, too, seeking US$500,000 (A$770,000) in damages. Knowing the prospect of the courts defying the CCP’s wishes, he and his family have now fled the country.
Power concentrated in one family
With Hun Sen doing the heavy lifting in controlling the political environment, Hun Manet has been able to concentrate on managing government departments and delivering public services, keeping one step away from allegations of human rights abuses. This has encouraged some media and diplomats to dream he will grant liberal freedoms when given the opportunity.
But there is no reason to believe a few years studying in America and Britain will lead Hun Manet to discard the authoritarian and paternalistic culture in which he has been immersed for most of his life.
This is a political culture, much influenced by Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore, where family trumps the individual, economic rights trump political rights, liberal freedoms need to be constrained lest they brew discord and disorder, and wise rulers should not be held back by the separation of powers.
However, a great many Cambodians, including reportedly some in the CPP itself, have not been persuaded that family values justify so many powerful roles being occupied by Hun Sen and his progeny. In addition to Hun Manet now serving as prime minister:
Lieutenant General Hun Manith (middle son) is chief of the Defence Ministry’s Intelligence Department
Hun Many (youngest son) is a new deputy prime minister, the minister for civil service and president of the CPP’s youth wing
daughters Hun Mana and Hun Maly hold interests in a swathe of companies, including Cambodia Electricity Private that sells electricity to the government, as well as television, radio and newspaper outlets
and Hun Mana’s husband, Dy Vichea, is deputy national police chief. He is also one of many powerful party figures who hold multi-million dollar commercial and residential assets in Australia.
Cambodia is growing economically and the cityscape is now gleaming with skyscrapers. But it ranks 158th out of 180 countries for corruption. And a country where one family dominates government and commerce, and leaders are appointed because of their family connections, is at profound risk of kleptocracy.
Cambodia’s democratic and human rights deficit remains profound, with:
opposition parties dissolved or excluded from elections and their members threatened with arrest
mass surveillance strengthened
independent media outlets shuttered.
The government’s obsession with control extends to the diaspora: Cambodian-Australians joining protests in Melbourne may put their families back home at risk of visits by the authorities.
Australia should use its leverage
Australia should continue to support the economic and social development of Cambodia, but also those Cambodians who are striving for democracy and freedom of expression. Targeted sanctions against those accused of human rights violations can and should be applied.
Australia recently consulted with 14 Cambodian ministries on its new Development Partnership Plan for Cambodia – but no alternative civil society voices. We have leverage, and should use it – not just to promote economic development, but the decent governance so many Cambodians want and deserve.
The CPP has called liberal democracy unattainably “pure and perfect”. However, Cambodia’s own constitution – accepted as part of the peace process following the civil war, in which Australia played a prominent part – says this is exactly what the country should be.
The millions of Cambodians who vote when they can, rally for human rights and risk jail to protest abuses show that belief in true democracy is not a minority aberration. Australia should be standing with them.
Read more here.