Newsletter:
Cambodia in review
A publication of the Royal Embassy of
Cambodia to the United States
March 1st, 1998
Vol. III No 25
Letter To The Editor Of The Washington Post
In response to the Washington Post February 10 editorial, H.E Ambassador Var Huoth wrote to the Editor of the newspaper a letter dated February 11, which reads as follows:
I was dismayed to read your February 10 Editorial "Cambodia's Dictator". The Post not only ignored the reality in Cambodia but also the commitment of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to hold a free and fair election on July 26, 1998 in Cambodia.
Contrary to the Post's assertions that there is no possibility of a free and fair vote in Cambodia, the RGC has already put several laws in relation to the elections in place, namely the election law, the political party law, and the law to place the military in a neutral position. Furthermore, late last month, the Cambodian National Assembly, born out of the UN-supervised elections in 1993, approved for the establishment of the National Election Committee in a vote of 75-15. To date, it is estimated that there will be around 40 political parties attending the upcoming general elections. Is this large number of participation in the forthcoming elections not an indication of the democratic nature of the elections in Cambodia?
In a present environment where most of the politicians in self-exiled have returned home and resumed their work either in the executive or legislative branch and most of the critical newspapers have resumed their publications, is this a sign of intimidation in Cambodia as claimed by the Post? As for Prince Ranariddh, he can return home to face trial on illegal importation of arms and his secret negotiation with the Khmer Rouge.
In response to the firm determination of the RGC, the European Union has made the right decision to provide the election aid to Cambodia, namely training Cambodian election officials to ensure the timely registration of all eligible voters and dissemination of information on registration and training journalists to ensure valid coverage of all opinions, and presence of the independent observers to the electoral process. The Cambodian people throughout the country applaud this decision.
The people of Cambodia suffered long enough. To continue the suffering of the Cambodian people is unfair. The participation of the international community in the process of preparation of the upcoming elections in Cambodia as shown by the European Union is a great step to find a durable peace for Cambodia.
International Community Should Provide Aid To
Cambodia
H.E Samdech Chea Sim, National Assembly Chairman and Acting Head of State, called on the international community to provide aid to Cambodia saying that the progress on democracy and human rights, as well as the country's stability would suffer without international aid.
"Development and liberal democracy and respect for human rights…will take a plunge again if, in the future, the international community fails to provide aid on time," the reporters quoted Samdech Chea Sim as saying in a speech at the inauguration of a German-funded health center held in Phnom Penh on February 5.
"On the one hand, suspension or delay in delivering aid to Cambodia, whether the aid is tied to political atmosphere or to any other political factors, will weigh negatively on the 10 million Cambodians who still face tremendous difficulties,
"On the other hand, it will restrain the progress to be made by the entire nation and will limit the growth of democracy, the respect for human rights, the building of Cambodia as a legal state, which both Cambodia and the international community wish to have," said Samdech Chea Sim.
He continued by adding that withholding aid to Cambodia would also be a symbolic encouragement for "the return of the terrible devastation of the past," by which he apparently referred to the period of the Khmer Rouge's reign between 1975-78.
He also stressed the necessity of international aid and assistance to help Cambodia in the holding of free and fair election scheduled for July 26.
"In order to organize a free and fair election, Cambodia will need not only financial, material and technical help, but the entire country will need to return to normal," he said, adding "In this sense, the normalization of development aid is also very essential for the advancement of Cambodia on the path to democracy."
John McAuliff of the US-Indochina Reconciliation Project, in an article published in the December issue of Indochina Interchange newsletter, considered the suspension of aid to Cambodia and the use of aid as political leverage not the correct move.
"International NGOs operating within Cambodia also observe that the use of NGO programs for political leverage compromises their integrity and independence," he wrote. "For the past year the Cambodian government has been working to produce legislation and policies which regularize the role of the international groups working in the country. The process is not made easier when authorities perceive international NGOs taking sides on internal government disputes or when the continuance of NGO programs is subject to explicitly political criteria," continued the article.
Former Australian Ambassador to Cambodia Tony Kevin shared this view with John McAuliff by ticking off a number of arguments. Among them were:
"-- I have not seen the case for aid sanctions against the present RGC (Royal
Government of Cambodia)….
"-- I don't believe that aid to Cambodia should be used as a political weapon,
because the people hurt by the withdrawal of aid are not the political decision makers.
"-- By remaining engaged, outside governments and agencies have some leverage on RGC
behavior.
"-- Remember the infamous quote from Vietnam War days-"We had to destroy the
village in order to save it." We should not make Cambodia that village!
"-- Democratic evolution and the evolution of a good civil society is a slow
process-it can't be imposed by force from outside."
Cambodia To Get GSP Rights From EU
Cambodia is one among the eight new states to which the European Union (EU) has decided to extend its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
David Batt, head of economics section of the Britain's Department of International
Development stated that Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Laos, the Maldives,
Yemen, and Bhutan had been due to get GSP rights from January 1, 1998, but an accord was
held up over problems relating to farm products previously subject to quota restrictions.
He noted that the decision to add these eight states to low tariff access to the EU market
resulted from an agreement reached during a GSP working party meeting in London. The
rights will be backdated to January 1, 1998.
Remnants Of Ancient Angkor Discovered
The archeologists have discovered new evidence of a prehistoric civilization and remnants of ancient temples in the Angkor temple complex, which, according to the experts, may revolutionize the way archeologists view the ancient city founded from the 8th to 13th century AD as the capital of the Khmer empire.
The discoveries are made possible by the using of the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) developed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, according to a Feb. 12 release by the laboratory.
"The radar data have enabled us to detect a distribution of circular 'prehistoric' mounds and undocumented temples far to the northwest of Angkor," said Dr. Elizabeth Moore, Head of the Department of Art & Archeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. "The site's topography is highlighted by the radar, focusing our attention on previously neglected features."
The radar maps not only brought into question traditional concepts of the urban evolution of Angkor, but revealed evidence of temples and earlier civilization either absent or incorrect on modern topographic maps and in early 20th century archeological reports, she noted.
The radar images made apparent many features that were not readily identifiable on the ground, said Dr. Anthony Freeman, a radar scientist at JPL who was collaborated with Moore for the past three years studying the use of radar on the Angkor site. "We can see differences in vegetation structure and some features that are obscured by vegetation cover."
Moore said she not only found the mound but also four to six temple remains, including pre-Angkorean structures. Previous archeological accounts noted only two temples and made no mention of the mound.
In addition, the radar revealed many more hydrological features and highlighted how they function in the rituals and daily life of the Khmer people.
Angkor's beauty is seen in its temples, but the greatness of the Khmer City lies in the multitude of water-related constructions, according to Moore. The Khmer kings nominally dedicated temples to Hindu and Buddhist deities, but the underlying significance was veneration of ancestral spirits, ensuring fertility of the land. Management of water was essential, both for control during the monsoon rains and conservation during the dry season and involved the construction of moats, dikes, canals, tanks, and reservoirs. The largest of these reservoirs, dated to the 12th century AD, is eight kilometers (five miles) long and its function remains a matter of archeological debate.
Mekong Headquarters To Move To Cambodia
On February 20, 1998, H.E Mr. Ung Huot, First Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia and H.E Mr. Yinpan Manasikarn, Minister of Science Technology and Environment of the Kingdom of Thailand, Chairman of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council for 1997/98, signed in Phnom Penh an Agreement on the Relocation of the MRC's headquarters.
According to the agreement, under which Cambodia will share responsibility for hosting the MRC's headquarters with Laos on the principle of rotation, the headquarters will be moved to Cambodian capital Phnom Penh from Bangkok for five years starting in July.
The MRC is made up of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. It was established to ensure the sustainable use and conservation of the Mekong River resources for mutual development and peace of the four countries.
The Mekong Working Group (MWG) was established at the Donor Consultation Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 1992. The Agreement on Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin (ACSDMRB) was signed at the MWG Meeting in Hanoi on November 28, 1994, by the four members of MRC.
The New Framework Agreement for Mekong Cooperation (NFAMC) was officially signed in Chiang Rai on April 5, 1995 and the Meeting of MRC Council, held in Vientiane in 1996, agreed to move the Headquarters of MRC to Phnom Penh and Vientiane based on the principle of rotation every five years.
Cambodia Economy Remains Stable
Despite recent domestic and regional economic problems, Cambodia's economy remains stable and healthy with GDP growth of about 2 percent, as well as low inflation and higher foreign reserves, Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon told a conference on Cambodia's future role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held in Phnom Penh on February 19-20.
As part of Southeast Asia, Cambodia was not immune from the financial cataclysm in the region, he said.
"However, in spite of recent domestic and regional economic turbulence, Cambodia
enjoyed GDP growth in 1997 of about 2 percent, which is in line with worldwide and
regional trends," he said.
"During the second half of 1997, the Cambodian riel depreciated only about 25 percent
but has remained broadly stable for the past several months," he said, adding,
"We also succeeded in keeping inflation at a low single digit level.
"Compared to 1996, our gross foreign reserves for 1997 increased by 12.4 percent, and net foreign reserves amounting to 2.5 months of our import needs, increased by 20.7 percent," said Minister Keat Chhon.
"More measures will be put into place accordingly to secure a sound and sustainable macro-economic environ- ment and to promote inflows of foreign direct investment into the country," he said, pledging to continue with free-market reforms.
A television factory invested by Singapore's Thakral Corp started to function on February 16 on the outskirts of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. The factory plans to assemble 300,000 television sets a year for the local market and for export.
"We believe that Cambodia has good potential for growth, particularly in the electronic sector," the reporters quoted project manager Roy Mathew as saying.
Mathew said a recent survey found television ownership in Cambodia was at a rate of only one set for every 111 people, compared with rates of around one set for every five people in developed countries.
The Cambodian market will form an important base for production while part of the plant's output will be exported to various countries including Laos and countries in the Middle East and Africa, according to Mathew.
Australian Firms To Explore Oil In Cambodia
Two Australian companies, Woodside Petroleum Ltd and Cambodian Resources Company N.L. signed on February 20 a $3 million deal for offshore oil and gas exploration in Cambodia.
Under the agreement, the companies will explore two Cambodian concession areas in the Gulf of Thailand that total about 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles). The exploration program will begin in June and continue through 1999.
"We have reason to believe these
blocks have potential," said Ian Archibald, Chairman of Cambodian Resources Company.
US Repatriates Remains Of Possible MIAs
The US Embassy to Cambodia repatriated on February 16 the personal effects and remains of possible American servicemen missing in action in Cambodia since the Vietnam War.
The ceremony took place at Phnom Penh airport, in which Cambodian POW/MIA Committee General Nuon Sareth handed over the remains to US Charge d' Affaires Carol Rodley.
The personal effects and remains were discovered during a joint US-Cambodian operation in Ratanakiri province in northeastern Cambodia. Some were found at a helicopter crash site in remote jungle and others were at the site where an F-4 aircraft crashed more than 20 years ago.
"Americans and Cambodians worked side-by-side to achieve our goal-- the fullest
possible accounting of Americans yet unaccounted for in Southeast Asia," Rodley said
at the
ceremony.
There are 75 Americans still unaccounted for in Cambodia. The United States and Cambodia have conducted 17 joint operations to find their remains since October 1991, according to the US Embassy.