KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA
Nation-Religion-King
Issued by Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Washington D.C.
October 2007 - Volume 22
Address: 4530 16th Street, N.W.
Washington D.C.
Tel: (202) 726 7742
Fax: (202) 726 8381
E-mail: rec.dc@hotmail.com
Website: www.embassyofcambodia.org

 Cambodia Human Development and Poverty Reduction Strategies;
 Cambodia – Economic Development;
 Cambodia Preah Vihear Temple – Future World Heritage;
 International Assistance for Poverty Reduction in Cambodia;
 New Paths for Tourism Development;

Cambodia Human Development and Poverty Reduction Strategies
The ceremony marking the International Poverty Alleviation Day and the Launch of
Cambodia Human Development Report 2007 on “Expanding Choices for Rural
People” was held in Phnom Penh on 04 October 2007.
Speaking in this ceremony, the Prime Minister highlighted that the launch of this
report matches the present situation when the Royal Government is greatly concerned
with the issues related to the quality of life at rural areas and it is also the right time to
focus on the ways to improve living conditions for rural poor.
Although GDP growth averaged at 10.6% annually during 2003-2006, and peaked at
13.5% in 2005 and 10.8% in 2006, rural economy and living standards are still the
worrying challenges for the Royal Government, due to the complex structural
challenges and the weakness of economic infrastructure. In this sense, we need to
clearly identify the different characteristics between location, natural endowment,
comparative advantage, specialization, and demography in rural areas. Indeed, there
are common issues facing Cambodia’s rural farmers, and there are different sets of
challenges facing different regions in the country. Hence, understanding these
characteristics is important. Therefore, under this framework, the Royal Government
has put great efforts in the improvement of transport infrastructure; rehabilitation and
construction of irrigation systems; land management reforms; loans, information and
training for farmers; especially the continued improvement of structural challenges in
order to increase market efficiency to improve the rural livelihoods.
To help set the tone for elaboration and discussion on the topic “Expanding Choices
for Rural People”, the Prime Minister raised a number of critical socio-economic
development issues and outlined short and long term policy priorities aiming at
improving the living standards and promoting human development:
1. Channeling resources to rural areas: the Royal Government clearly understands
that in order to develop rural areas, we need to allocate adequate resources and make
substantial investment in rural infrastructure such as roads, electricity and irrigation
system infrastructure in order to stimulate rural economy. Improvement in
infrastructure and access to adequate and affordable energy are necessary for
economic diversification and modernization of agricultural sector. Particularly,
commercially oriented farmers might try to shift from rice to other high-value crops
using improved and predictable water supply if the market and roads improve
alongside. Limited access and high cost electricity do not only affect the living quality
of rural household, they are also constraints to production inputs and thus prohibit
diversification and modernization of agriculture.
2. Fair and effective land management: land conflict is becoming pervasive owing
to tremendous increase in land price during the recent years. Furthermore,
experiences show that land concentration has led to landlessness and aversely affected
socio-economic development and poverty reduction. Moreover, the increasing level
of land concentration results in land conflict where increasing possession of land
would create income inequality and possession of natural resources. Such situation
would further widen income and opportunity gaps within the country.
The Royal Government is fully aware that land is the fundamental natural resource
for socio-economic development and poverty reduction, especially in rural areas. In
the implementation of Land Law and its land policy, the Royal Government focuses
on measures to improve the land management, land distribution system and land
usage to ensure economic efficiency through registering, distributing, securing land
ownership, curtailing illegal land ownerships, and curbing unproductive land
consolidation.
At the same time, within the framework to effectively governance of land, the Royal
Government in the process of reviewing the state-owned land which is either
unoccupied or controlled by companies or individuals who did not properly complied
with the legal standard to use those lands in an efficient and productive manner. In
order to solve this problem, the Royal Government will put more efforts to accelerate
the distribution and provision of land ownership, with priority given to the most
vulnerable groups, especially families who hold only a small plot of farm land.
Furthermore, we will reconsider the effectiveness of unused land tax as well as
restrict the provision of economic land concession aiming at ensuring the
transparency and economic efficiency in land management. If a company received a
concession but does not use the land according to the contract agreement, the Royal
Government will consider withdrawing the land and distribute it to landless people,
especially through the practice of social land concession by linking to necessary
procedures to ensure efficiency and justice in the distribution and use of that land.
The government will put forward and enforce a stronger legal action to curb land
grabbing and land encroachment.
3. Education and human resource development: adequately educated, skilled and
motivated work force is required to sustain the increasingly sophisticated Cambodian
economy. Ensuring that workers possess basic literacy, numeracy, and life skills is
clearly a fundamental prerequisite for a country’s socio-economic development. In
Cambodia, the lack of skilled workers is already a severe constraint to accelerating
growth in both rural and urban areas. Adopting and adapting to new technology is
difficult and costly for an unskilled and poorly educated work force. In my view,
Cambodia will have many more technical choices for upgrading its industries and
skills through aggressively upgrades the education and skill levels of its prospective
workers starting with the improvement in the quality and coverage of secondary
school education and vocational training. With respect to education, I would like to
highlight 2 important issues as follows:
Firstly, In the process of human resource development poverty and general lack of
resources is the primary barrier to improving educational outcomes in Cambodia,
especially in rural areas. Hence, at the early stage of rehabilitation, Cambodia has
focused on getting more children into school; and at the current development stage,
the government realize that there is also a need to emphasize on improving the
capacity of teachers to transmit knowledge to their students, especially at the
secondary level and vocational training. Thus, the Royal Government will pursue a
dual strategy of supporting existing initiatives to keep poor students in school and
funding institutional improvement by investing further in rural schools, teachers
training colleges and vocational training school.
Secondly, improving access and quality of education at all levels will be critical to
Cambodia’s future development. This requires us to implement reform to enhance the
quality of education and ensure appropriate balance with increasing the quantity of
education. Obviously, to increase quality of education needs improvement in
necessary conditions for teaching and learning methodologies, to raise quantity of
education requires more schools and more teachers, because the number of children
reaching schooling year keeps increasing from year to year, and in addition to that,
society and market also demand work force of high quality.
In this spirit, the government is of the clear view that strengthening education system
and developing high skilled and qualified human resource are critical to enhance
human resource fundamentals which enable Cambodia to compete effectively with
other world counterparts who are making fast progress in era of globalization and
regionalization. We also acknowledge that a well-functioning economy is the one that
can effectively train, utilize and manage its intellectual resources. Hence, it is
necessary to create a favorable environment to better develop, manage and employ
these intellectual resources.
4. Encouraging private sector participation in rural economy development: the
private sector is the driver of economic growth. Rural economy is largely based on
the agricultural sector. Thus, developing the agricultural sector is fundamental for
rural prosperity.
Agriculture in Cambodia is essentially in the hands of the private sector and its
development, therefore, critically dependant on the private sector initiatives. The
government will keep making efforts to increase investment and take some actions to
reduce costs, especially in transportation and electricity to promote private sector
involvement in development of rural economy.
5. Fostering broad-based and sustainable rural growth: In my view, to broaden
the source of growth, Cambodia must create a sustainable and dynamic framework for
the rural economy to flourish. However in order to do so, we must address all the
above mentioned issues including: making concrete investment in transport and
electricity infrastructures in rural areas, rural financing, institutional reforms to ensure
farmers’ access to land and natural resources, private sector participations to drive the
rural economy and generate employment, adequate resource allocation for education
and skill development.

Cambodia - Economic Development

During the meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister in Phnom Penh on October
24, the visiting American economist Joseph E. Stiglitz said Cambodia is walking on a
right track of economic development. He highly appreciated the royal government for
leading Cambodia to a country with economic growth and political stability, contributing
to the poverty reduction in the globalization era.
His visit was trying to learn about the top priorities on the government's agenda and the
problems it has to solve in the process to develop the country, said Mr. Stiglitz, adding
that he wanted to share his comprehensive experiences on economy in order to increase
the economic growth.
The Prime Minister informed his guest of the most priority tasks that the Cambodian
government has to be taken in various fields, including agriculture, particularly water
resources, physical infrastructures, telecommunication, electricity, and human resources
development. Cambodian Premier recommended Mr. Stiglitz to continue his discussion
with the specialized institution of the Supreme Council of Cambodian Economy.
In his meetings with government leaders, Dr. Stiglitz pointed out that in dealing with
pressing issues, Cambodia needs to sustain development by diversifying its products and
export markets, and invest in infrastructure and human capital. Similar to other
developing countries, Cambodia could improve agricultural productivity by increasing
extension services, improving market access through international certifications such as
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards, and expanding rural credit. Other trade
policy areas that Cambodia should consider include ensuring that Bilateral Investment
Treaties (BITs) align with Cambodia's development needs and enhancing knowledge
transfer from foreign firms to build local expertise.
Joseph E. Stiglitz is currently a Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia
University, and Chairman of Columbia University's Committee on Global Thought. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in October 2001. He was invited by UNESCO
to share his experiences with Cambodian officials for two days.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched
the World Investment Report 2007 in Phnom Penh on Wednesday October 17. This is the
third time for Cambodia to host the launch of the World Investment Report, said
Cambodian Minister of Commerce while addressing the launching ceremony. He also
delivered some figures about the investment in Cambodia.
So far, the total investment in Cambodia registered at the CDC has been amounted to
about 10,000 million U.S. dollars, including 9,417 million U.S. dollars of foreign direct
investment (FDI). The total investment was composed of 1,091 million U.S. dollars of
investment in agriculture, 1,848 million U.S. dollars of investment in industry and
manufacturing, 2,689 million U.S. dollars of investment in tourism industry and 4,380
million U.S. dollars of investment in infrastructure and service.

Cambodian Preah Vihear Temple – Future World Heritage
Cambodian government in collaboration with concerned international agencies and parties is
undergoing preparation phase required by UNESCO to endorse Preah Vihear Temple as
another world’s heritage in June 2008.
Cambodia will protect Preah Vihear Temple against any infringement on its integrity and
sovereignty while welcoming cooperation from all nations and organizations in the
restoration and preservation of the Temple, said H.E. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers. The preservation and
development of Preah Vihear Temple must guarantee the sustainability in the framework of
international cooperation and can be started once it is completely registered as the world
heritage.
During the visit to Cambodia in last October, Mr. Noritada Morita, Deputy Director of the
Mekong Organization for Mankind, said the Royal Government of Cambodia has made a
great and successful effort in preserving its own cultural heritages such as the Angkor
Temples that contributed a significant advantage for people in Asia and in the international
community as a whole. While appreciating a plan developed by the Cambodian government
for the restoration of Preah Vihear Temple, Mr. Noritada Morita outlined his organization's
project and program for the temple’s assistance and support. He hoped that the restoration
plan of Preah Vihear Temple would gain an extensive support from all circles of the
international community. He said his organization was working with the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) to get advice and financial support for the Preah Vihear Temple project under
the Great Mekong Sub-Region program.
US Ambassador to UNESCO Louise Oliver has scheduled her visit to Cambodia in the
beginning of November to assist Cambodia with required conditions to formalize Preah
Vihear Temple into the world’s heritage. During the visit, US Ambassador to UNESCO will
study actual implementation of required conditions by Cambodia, feedback and conduct sitevisits.

International Assistance for Poverty Reduction in Cambodia

The Japanese government has decided to grant one billion yen (equivalent of
8,695,000 US dollars) as a concession loan to Cambodia to support the Poverty
Reduction and Growth Operation (PRGO). The Notes to this effect is exchanged on
October 09 in Phnom Penh between H.E. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and H.E. Katsuhiro Shinohara,
Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia.
Poverty Reduction and Growth Operation (PRGO) (2007-2009) is a multi-donor program
to render support for the implementation of the good governance reform program laid out
in the Royal Government of Cambodia’s National Strategic Development Plan 20062010, said a press release of the Japanese Embassy. With this loan project, the total
amount of Japan’s ODA Loan extended to Cambodia is 16,951 million Japanese yen
(equivalent of 146 million US dollars). The Government of Japan hopes that its
contribution to PRGO will accelerate the said reforms.

The Japanese government has provided in total of 61,611 US dollars to the Japan
League on Development Disabilities (JLDD) to assist people with intellectual disabilities
in the provinces of Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang. Japanese Ambassador to
Cambodia H.E. Katsuhiro Shinohara, and Ms. Numata Chiyoko, Secretary General of
JLDD, signed the grant contract in the Embassy of Japan in Phnom Penh on October 16.
JLDD, a Japanese NGO dedicated to improving the capacity of the people with
disabilities in Cambodia, received the grant from the government of Japan today for its
Project for Community Approach in Supporting People with Intellectual Disabilities in
Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang provinces. This project provides trainings and
workshops in 35 villages in the said provinces, to raise awareness on intellectual
disabilities in the communities. JLDD expects that the project will allow approximately
270 people with intellectual disabilities and 18,000 villagers to improve their knowledge.

Germany has committed 34 million euros (about 48.6 million U.S. dollars) in
grants for Cambodia in areas of health, rural development and strengthening
governance, a press release from German embassy in Phnom Penh said on Tuesday
October 23. The Cambodian and German governments held their biannual government
negotiations in Bonn on Oct. 16-17 and an agreement was reached on programs for
technical and financial cooperation with a total volume of 34 million euros.
With this new commitment for the period 2007-2008, Germany increased its support to
Cambodia by 25 percent in comparison to the last two years cycle, it added. The major
part of this new pledge will be spend to continue ongoing cooperation in the focal areas
of German Development Cooperation with Cambodia, including health sector reform,
rural development as well as crosscutting activities to strengthen good governance, it
said, adding that as a new field of activities both sides agreed to earmark funds for the
exploration and promotion of renewable energies, such as biogas and micro-hydropower,
in rural Cambodia. The total volume of bilateral technical and financial cooperation since
cooperation began amounts to more than 224 million euros (about 320 million U.S.
dollars), according to the press release.

New Paths for Tourism Development
As tourism in Angkor Watt continues to grow unabated, a new tourist route could
alleviate some of the tourist pressure. For many years now, the Cambodian government
has been looking for solutions to take some of the pressure out of the site. As the first
seven months of 2007 brought 442,000 visitors to Siem Reap International Airport, a
growth of 38 percent, Angkor Watt is poised to continue to take a beating from the
hordes of tourists that visit the world heritage site.
The Apsara Authority, which manages the Angkor Watt complex, recently introduced
new paths with tourists taking different routes to enter and exit the temple. The objective
now is to make certain that tourists do not flock to the site at the same time. The idea is to
create circuits around Angkor Watt to spread the number of visitors and take some of the
pressure faced by Angkor top attractions.
“As France and Japan are sharing the presidency of the Permanent Secretary for the
International Coordinating Committee for the Preservation and Development of the
Historical Site of Angkor under the UNESCO, we work closely with Cambodian
authorities to find the best solutions to accommodate tourism requirements,” explained
Jean-François Desmazieres, French Ambassador to Cambodia. “The target is not to kill
the hen with the golden eggs but at the same to preserve the authenticity of Angkor.”
According to the Ambassador Desmazieres, Angkor Watt can indeed accommodate a
fairly high number of tourists every day. “During the time of Khmer Kings, they were
already thousand of visitors per day to Angkor Watt temples,” he said.
The committee has also been working with Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism for the
creation of new tourist sightseeing such as traditional handicraft or silk producing
villages. The most ambitious project is the development of a new tourist road, which
would link Angkor Watt to the spectacular Preah Vihear temple, via the old city of Koh
Ker where many temples can still be visited.
In another development, Cambodia’s tourism minister recently signed a joint declaration
with tourism ministers from Laos and Vietnam on trilateral cooperation at the meeting in
Ho Chi Minh City. Under the “three countries – one destination” scheme, Cambodia,
Laos and Vietnam will implement measures to boost tourism and cultural activities as
well as encourage public-private partnerships with regard to tourism development.
The ministers agreed to encourage their national tourism agencies to boost exchange of
information and experiences in tourism development and promotion.
