Hun Manet Does Davos, Mayor of Kep Incarcerated, Angkor Families Cry for Help
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, January 19, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
POWER MOVE: The prime minister says he’s weeding out corruption, and top officials, generals and over 50 police officers have already been sacked. Supporters say it’s just the start. Detractors say it’s all a show.
FAINT PRAISE: A workplace improvement contest is underway for garment factories, with top marks going to those that best obey labor laws and health and safety rules. The first place prize? No labor inspection for a year.
DAY BREAK: Tourists trickling back to the Kingdom have left some great reviews. Phnom Penh made the Top 10 of a list of great global destinations, and Angkor Wat earned the title of Best Sunrise in the World.
THE LEDE
Pitch Man
Cambodia is open for business.
That’s the message Hun Manet delivered to dozens of high-powered investors during a weeklong roadshow in Europe, where he hosted corporate executives in Paris and attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The prime minister held talks with the CEO of Trip.com, who vowed to promote Cambodia to the site’s 400 million users, and fostered agreements for some of the Kingdom’s most powerful — and notorious — business tycoons.
The U.S. media was less impressed, calling Hun Manet a “bad boy” and putting him on a “Dirty Dozen” list of Davos attendees. Diplomats and investors paid no mind, hailing the visit as a détente with European boardrooms.
New Boss
Anti-corruption officials jailed the Kep mayor on charges of money laundering and abuse of power, capping a months-long clampdown on graft that has ensnared at least 100 government employees.
Several high-ranking officials have been demoted since Hun Manet took office in August, including four generals from the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee, while more than 50 police officers have been sacked for drug use and disciplinary problems.
Insiders suggest it’s just the beginning, as Hun Manet asserts control over government ranks. Critics called the move an old school show of power, dismissing the idea that real reform is underway, or even possible.
Power Source
More than 10,000 families will be kicked off their land if plans for two more hydropower dams in Stung Treng province get the government green light.
Two companies owned by Kith Meng, the Royal Group tycoon with close ties to the prime minister, are drafting feasibility studies for the Lower Srepok 3 and Lower Sesan 3 dams — the first step in the building process that would require the evictions.
Local families, rights activists and environmental advocates are rightfully alarmed: The Royal Group was the chief partner in the infamous Lower Sesan 2 dam, which has been flooded with controversy since 2018.
Rights groups consider that dam and its aftermath a fiasco, and residents living near the new sites fear a similar fate, one of trampled rights and forced evictions.
TALKING POINTS
Two Sides
Cambodia slammed a Human Rights Watch report calling the Kingdom a de facto “single-party state” without legitimate political opposition or a free press. A spokesperson called the findings a one-sided attempt to undermine the government’s credibility. The clapback came alongside threats to ban several opposition parties ahead of senate elections next month, and the jailing of two Candlelight Party officials over vague allegations of forgery.
No Contest
A year without labor inspections is first prize in a state-sponsored competition for garment factory owners. Facilities must adhere to labor laws — such as not employing child workers and following health and safety guidelines — to be eligible. The contest is part of a government initiative to improve labor relations, which have suffered under accusations of wage theft and union busting, and with the jailing of NagaWorld union boss Chhim Sithar.
Blame Game
Biased reporting and careless foreign officials are Cambodia’s real problem, the vice-chairwoman of the National Counter-Trafficking Committee said, refusing responsibility for the Kingdom’s human trafficking crisis. “You cannot place the entire accountability on Cambodia,” she said. “You also let your people fall for the trick and leave their countries before they arrived in our country.”
Money Trap
Experts are questioning whether the Kingdom will hit upper middle income status by 2030, a top goal of the new administration. Numerous fiscal challenges, including high debt and low financial literacy, stand in the way. “Simple mathematics says that [goal] requires 15% real GDP growth [each year] between now and 2030,” writes Stephen Higgins, a partner at Mekong Strategic Capital. “Not going to happen.”
Home Bound
Hundreds of families living inside Angkor Archeological Park protested a decision barring residents from making home repairs, digging wells or farming their land. Protesters appealed to the prime minister and UNESCO to relax the regulations, which residents say have grown increasingly harsh in recent years.
Call Signs
Two Chinese gunboats docked since December at Ream Naval Base have departed. China has spent more than $1 billion upgrading the base, including a massive drydock and a 363-meter pier long enough to support an aircraft carrier. The two corvettes were the first of many expected port calls.
Moving Up
Cambodia is winning the hearts of international tourists. Phnom Penh landed 9th on Tripadvisor’s “Best of the Best Destinations,” and Angkor Wat placed first in “Best Sunrises in the World.”
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Killings Have Left Villagers Suspicious, Scared
January 16, 2004
The shooting death of a Sam Rainsy Party activist on Saturday, Chompou village’s second killing in recent weeks, has left many villagers saying they are afraid of their own neighbors.
Graft Cited for Lack of School Improvements
January 16, 2004
Hun Sen Sa’ang High School should have a music class with traditional Khmer instruments. It should have a small farm. It should have 20 planters and a remodeled toilet.
Gov’t Cuts Funds for Shot Singer’s Injuries
January 14, 2004
The government has stopped paying the medical bills for popular singer Touch Srey Nich, who remains in a Bangkok hospital after an Oct 21 shooting left her paralyzed from the neck down, a government official said.
WEEKEND READING
Centuries-Old Rituals Are Slowly Fading Away in Cambodia
Cambodia’s northeast is home to more than 20 ethnic groups or Indigenous People. E
ach have their own story and particular customs, from death cults to love huts, and they have specific languages, although nowadays rarely used.
Translating atrocity at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
The ECCC highlights some hazards of miscommunication and mistranslation in multilingual war crimes proceedings
Leveraging the hypothetical: The uncertain world of carbon credit calculations
Criticisms of the voluntary carbon trade and forest conservation strategies like REDD+ have centered largely on the carbon accounting methods used to calculate credits. Recent science has raised questions about how REDD+ and other types of project figure out the number of tons of emissions saved.
Photos: Hun Manet, Facebook. Angkor Wat, Lukas Kloeppel.
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