Posted on 4 November 2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 585
“The president of the opposition party blamed the government for a lack of encouragement for local investors, and for not finding markets to sell the products of the local agriculture of citizens who put efforts into increasing their income.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy, the president of the Sam Rainsy Party, said during the Forum-for-Listeners Program of Radio Free Asia in the evening of 31 October 2008, that the Cambodian government fails to encourage local investors. He added during the program that the government does not encourage local investors to be able to compete with investors in neighboring countries; therefore many goods from neighboring countries flow into Cambodia.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy went on to say that Khmer investors who invest in workshops, in industry, and in services, face difficulties to compete with products imported from foreign countries, adding that the government should focus on developing the field of agriculture, like by contributing land to citizens, and to help find markets for farmers and for investors to sell their products.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy continued to say that for Cambodia to progress, the government should implement some special measures, like by focusing to encourage agricultural development, providing land transparently, finding markets to sell local products, and preventing the import of goods from outside of the country into markets in Cambodia. Responding to a question by a listener of Radio Free Asia from Kompong Speu regarding agricultural products of farmers during this new term government that keeps on implementing the Rectangular Strategy, he asked whether or not the government can keep the citizens away from poverty. Mr. Sam Rainsy said that according to his observation, the Rectangular Strategy of the government has only achieved little improvements. He added that the government must have clear plans to promote the agriculture and to distribute land to citizens, especially the government has to find markets to sell local products in order to encourage local citizens and investors. The government must hurry to find solutions for these problems as soon as possible, like by helping competition on the market; also the present global economic crisis will affect the economy of Cambodia in the future, and this requires that the government starts to find solutions from now on.
“Some economists say that the Cambodian real estate market is facing a dramatic drop of the prices, because of the global economic crisis and of the border dispute between Cambodia and Siam [Thailand] since 15 July 2008. They added that the prices of real estate, which were previously fairly high, fell sharply after the global economic crisis started. At the same time, this strongly affects also investors in the field of banking, because some banks depends on money from foreign partners.
“Economic experts said that even if Cambodia achieves 10% of economic growth, the global economic crisis will result in some Khmer citizens loosing their income and their jobs; furthermore, local investors will face financial problems because of belated transfers of money.
“As for the competition between the markets in Cambodia and in South Korea, it is seen that South Korea has imported all kinds of goods into the Cambodian market year after year, and earns nearly US$2 billion. However, the export of goods from Cambodia to the South Korean market earns only little more than US$40 million; this shows that local investors cannot compete in markets outside of the country.
“As for the competition between the markets of Siam [Thailand] and Cambodia, it is seen that Siam exports fertilizer into Cambodia for more than US$1 billion each year, but Cambodia earns very little by selling agricultural products to Siam, including mats [woven from many different kinds of grasses], pepper, garlic, river fish, and cattle, but some cattle is re-loaded to be sold to Malaysia. Because the government does not provide encouragement for local farmers and investors, as mentioned by Mr. Sam Rainsy, goods from Yuon [Vietnam], China, Korea, and Siam are imported more and more into the Cambodian market, discouraging local farmers, craftsmen, and investors to continue their businesses, since their products have no foreign market to be exported to, and they even face competition in the local market with foreign products which are sold at cheaper prices than the Khmer farmers’ products.
“As for the agriculture of the country, besides paddy rice, which has a markets outside of the country, other agricultural products, such as pineapples, mangoes, bananas, sugar cane, tiep [custard apples], and pumpkins, are worthless on the international markets, and Khmer agricultural products must compete at the local market with products imported from Yuon and Siam also, discouraging Khmer citizens to make products and to do cultivation.”
Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3604, 3.11.2008
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Tuesday, 3 November 2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 585
“The president of the opposition party blamed the government for a lack of encouragement for local investors, and for not finding markets to sell the products of the local agriculture of citizens who put efforts into increasing their income.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy, the president of the Sam Rainsy Party, said during the Forum-for-Listeners Program of Radio Free Asia in the evening of 31 October 2008, that the Cambodian government fails to encourage local investors. He added during the program that the government does not encourage local investors to be able to compete with investors in neighboring countries; therefore many goods from neighboring countries flow into Cambodia.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy went on to say that Khmer investors who invest in workshops, in industry, and in services, face difficulties to compete with products imported from foreign countries, adding that the government should focus on developing the field of agriculture, like by contributing land to citizens, and to help find markets for farmers and for investors to sell their products.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy continued to say that for Cambodia to progress, the government should implement some special measures, like by focusing to encourage agricultural development, providing land transparently, finding markets to sell local products, and preventing the import of goods from outside of the country into markets in Cambodia. Responding to a question by a listener of Radio Free Asia from Kompong Speu regarding agricultural products of farmers during this new term government that keeps on implementing the Rectangular Strategy, he asked whether or not the government can keep the citizens away from poverty. Mr. Sam Rainsy said that according to his observation, the Rectangular Strategy of the government has only achieved little improvements. He added that the government must have clear plans to promote the agriculture and to distribute land to citizens, especially the government has to find markets to sell local products in order to encourage local citizens and investors. The government must hurry to find solutions for these problems as soon as possible, like by helping competition on the market; also the present global economic crisis will affect the economy of Cambodia in the future, and this requires that the government starts to find solutions from now on.
“Some economists say that the Cambodian real estate market is facing a dramatic drop of the prices, because of the global economic crisis and of the border dispute between Cambodia and Siam [Thailand] since 15 July 2008. They added that the prices of real estate, which were previously fairly high, fell sharply after the global economic crisis started. At the same time, this strongly affects also investors in the field of banking, because some banks depends on money from foreign partners.
“Economic experts said that even if Cambodia achieves 10% of economic growth, the global economic crisis will result in some Khmer citizens loosing their income and their jobs; furthermore, local investors will face financial problems because of belated transfers of money.
“As for the competition between the markets in Cambodia and in South Korea, it is seen that South Korea has imported all kinds of goods into the Cambodian market year after year, and earns nearly US$2 billion. However, the export of goods from Cambodia to the South Korean market earns only little more than US$40 million; this shows that local investors cannot compete in markets outside of the country.
“As for the competition between the markets of Siam [Thailand] and Cambodia, it is seen that Siam exports fertilizer into Cambodia for more than US$1 billion each year, but Cambodia earns very little by selling agricultural products to Siam, including mats [woven from many different kinds of grasses], pepper, garlic, river fish, and cattle, but some cattle is re-loaded to be sold to Malaysia. Because the government does not provide encouragement for local farmers and investors, as mentioned by Mr. Sam Rainsy, goods from Yuon [Vietnam], China, Korea, and Siam are imported more and more into the Cambodian market, discouraging local farmers, craftsmen, and investors to continue their businesses, since their products have no foreign market to be exported to, and they even face competition in the local market with foreign products which are sold at cheaper prices than the Khmer farmers’ products.
“As for the agriculture of the country, besides paddy rice, which has a markets outside of the country, other agricultural products, such as pineapples, mangoes, bananas, sugar cane, tiep [custard apples], and pumpkins, are worthless on the international markets, and Khmer agricultural products must compete at the local market with products imported from Yuon and Siam also, discouraging Khmer citizens to make products and to do cultivation.”
Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3604, 3.11.2008
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Tuesday, 3 November 2008
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