By William E. Todd, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia
This week, I had the honor to welcome a distinguished visiting delegation from the United States-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) during their visit to Cambodia. The USABC is a private business group composed of leading U.S. companies operating in the fast-growing ASEAN economies. Members of the delegation included executives from well-known and highly successful companies such as General Electric, Apple, Oracle, Visa and Conoco-Phillips who are eager to seek new investment opportunities and to build long-lasting commercial ties with Cambodia and its neighboring countries. As these top U.S. companies look to expand their business operations in the region, they also offer great benefits to the Cambodian people through their quality products and services, as well as connecting with local communities through their corporate social responsibility projects.
This week, Sarin from Siem Reap wrote to me to ask, “I read that our country’s economy is projected to grow by another seven percent this year, but many Cambodians are still struggling to make a living. What can be done to address this?” The USABC visit is a perfect opportunity to consider this question and the role that foreign companies can play in Cambodia’s development.
The question of how to improve the standard of living for working Cambodians and their families is very complex and requires a multi-faceted approach.One sure way to raise the standard of living in a country is to create more jobs that pay a decent wage, especially when there is a dynamic young population like there is in Cambodia. And one of the quickest ways to create good jobs is to attract investment from overseas.
During the past two decades, foreign investment has spurred the development of Cambodia’s manufacturing sector, which brought needed income to many Cambodians. Going forward, I believe foreign investment will be equally crucial in providing the capital necessary to build more advanced industries and to create opportunities for Cambodians to move from low-skill, low-pay jobs to higher-skill, higher-pay positions.
Thanks to its location in the heart of Southeast Asia and its young work force, Cambodia has the potential to be a destination of choice for international investment, but it needs to work hard to become more attractive to foreign investment. One way that Cambodia can do this is by investing in the education of young Cambodians. The more educated and flexible the workforce, the more likely it is that foreign businesses will look to bring high-quality jobs to Cambodia in fields like technology and finance.
Another way that Cambodia can become a destination of choice for foreign businesses is to continue reforms to address corruption, rule of law, and labor problems. U.S. businesses are also concerned about recent proposals related to regulation of the Internet and telecommunications, and the potential negative impact on Internet freedom, access to information, and the right to free expression – all of which are necessary conditions for a modern, innovation-based economy. I believe Cambodian government leaders would benefit greatly from listening to those concerns. That is why I am always looking for opportunities to bring Cambodian government leaders together with groups like the USABC delegation so that they can discuss ways to make Cambodia more attractive to foreign investment.
It was an honor for me to join the USABC group in meeting with Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen.The group also met with other senior government officials including Senior Minister and Minister of Commerce Sun Chanthol, who actively promotes Cambodia as a business-friendly environment and recently joined me on a Trade Mission to the United States to explain the advantages of investment and trade with Cambodia. I applaud Minister Chanthol’s action-oriented engagement with the local and foreign business community.The warm reception that Cambodia’s leaders extended to the USABC delegation is a sign of seriousness on the part of the Cambodian government, particularly as Cambodia readies for the ASEAN Economic Community and considers the competitive advantages it can offer. The visit also shows an increased level of interest by international investors in Cambodia – particularly at a time when Cambodia has settled the political impasse and lays the groundwork for reforms.
The members of the USABC deserve credit for their contributions in promoting mutually-beneficial economic ties between Cambodia and the United States. U.S. investment has played, and will continue to play, a very important role in Cambodia’s development. The United States is Cambodia’s largest single country trading partner by a large margin and the largest market for Cambodian goods, supporting hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in Cambodia. The United States also exports products like machinery that can help Cambodian manufacturers reduce costs and improve production efficiency.
More importantly, U.S. investment can serve as a catalyst in promoting the kind of vibrant, fair, and open economy that will bring benefits to society as a whole. Investment by international companies can introduce more efficient business practices and higher ethical standards that help reduce corruption. U.S. companies are also increasingly focused on the social and environmental impact of their operations and take pride in offering its local staff some of the best working conditions and benefits, including innovative and technology-based training.
At the U.S. Embassy, our approach is to work with the U.S. business community as “one mission, one team” to help them to find investment opportunities that will create jobs and will help Cambodia to reduce poverty and improve the daily lives of its citizens. In addition to the successful Trade Mission in June, I plan to join with several of my colleagues for the USABC Ambassadors Tour to the United States in October, which will provide further opportunities to forge new commercial ties between the U.S. and Cambodian business communities.
Global companies have been clear about the factors that influence their decisions to invest abroad. If the Royal Government of Cambodia continues to show that it is serious about addressing their concerns, companies will bring capital, technology, and proven-effective business practices to Cambodia. This will create more opportunities for local entrepreneurs and innovators to succeed, and it will also bring better jobs that raise the incomes and improve the quality of life of Cambodian workers and their families. This is a time of great promise for Cambodia.
Thank you for reading my column this week. Please help to continue this conversation on the most pressing issues in Cambodia by sending me your questions at AskAmbToddPP@state.gov and following my blog at http://blogs.usembassy.gov/todd.
William E. Todd is U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia
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