Speeches
Ambassador Rodley’s Remarks at US Embassy’s Reception for Economist Business Roundtable
February 17, 2009
Welcome to the U.S. Embassy. Thank you all for coming.
I want to start by thanking the Amcham for helping to organize this event with sponsorship support from ACLEDA Bank, Sciaroni and Associates, Tiger Beer, Coca Cola, and other sponsors that made this wonderful reception tonight possible. This event is a great example of a public-private partnership that can help create opportunities that would have otherwise been missed. Amcham has been a great partner for the Embassy, and we hope that as the organization continues to develop, we will remain close partners in facilitating international business in Cambodia.
I know that a number of you came down from the Economist Business Roundtable. After in-depth presentations by the leading lights of the government, business, and observers of Cambodia, what is left to say? This. You heard two dramatically different scenarios for the short to medium term economic future and the impact of the global recession. You also heard some very divergent views on the benefits and costs of investing in Cambodia. You heard about the rapid economic growth, liberal investment regime, young labor force, agricultural potential, regional trading networks, prospective resources, and the developing legal framework. You also learned about the corruption, weak rule of law, and high infrastructure costs. You heard deliberately provocative comments, you heard some official government positions, and frankly, you heard some spin. After all of these factors have been sorted through, you are probably still left with the question, should my company invest in Cambodia?
For this reason, I have invited a broad cross-section of leaders of the Cambodian government, diplomatic corps, and private sector to the U.S. Embassy to help you gain further insight into the Cambodian economy and potential opportunities for your companies. I encourage you to reach out to our resident guests, and probe them on their experiences with business here in Cambodia. Because Cambodia is a place that you cannot figure out or know from afar. Of all the statements made up in Siem Reap, the one that really struck me was that Cambodia is a place that is unforgiving for investors who do not do their homework. And I think that’s right. Cambodia has never been for the faint of heart, and while there is money to be made here, it’s not easy money or fast money for the most part.
One of the themes that I talk about regularly is the gap between perception of Cambodia and reality. If conflict and instability were the biggest obstacles to foreign investors in years past, it is the lingering memories of those obstacles that may serve as the biggest deterrent to foreign direct investment in the present. Today I attended the opening session of the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Some of you probably saw the headlines this morning in the newspapers.
Cambodians themselves have parted with the wartime past, and want to embrace a future that includes all the benefits of modernity. The earliest foreign investors recognized this potential on the part of the Cambodians to join the world economy. As more foreign investors begin to realize that Cambodia has moved beyond its tragic history of civil war and genocide, I am confident that these investors will also find profitable opportunities here in Cambodia.
Cambodia certainly has a distinct and rich culture, which I have always appreciated and enjoyed. But it doesn’t need to be stuck in the past and mired in poverty to be preserved. I am thrilled to see development here in the capital. I love it when I see young people enjoying a bowl of ice cream at the new Swensen’s ice cream parlors or families enjoying the colonel’s original recipe at KFC. Cambodia’s garment factories have higher labor standards than any of their regional counterparts, and their workers, mainly rural women who support, on average 5 family members, will soon be able to send money to their families through their mobile phones. Microfinance has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of impoverished Cambodians, and new air conditioned shopping malls are changing the shopping experience for the new generation in cities. The discovery of oil and gas may help develop an entirely new industries and employ thousands of people directly and indirectly, if production is able to go forward and the money stops “sleeping under the sea.”
These are all positive signs of how investors can help Cambodia modernize and integrate into the globalizing economy, while enhancing their own bottom line in the process. It is this type of partnership in development which I find so encouraging about the economic renaissance taking place in contemporary Cambodia. What all of you should find encouraging is that there remains space in nearly all sectors of the Cambodian economy for continued investment. Cambodia’s hospitals, schools, farms, and infrastructure present many problems, but also potential opportunities for savvy investors.
While much has been already been done to move Cambodia into compliance with international trade standards or to create a better business environment, the government has its work cut out for itself to ensure that investors can operate efficiently and competitively. More rapid government action on creating a better business environment will shorten the current economic downturn. You heard a lot of talk about corruption in Siem Reap, including pragmatic views and advice on how to deal with it, but in fact, corruption remains a drag on the economy and on society. And talking about it openly is an important step in changing the climate and making corruption less acceptable.
I believe that Cambodia will continue to move forward and modernize, opening itself up to the world economy and all of the benefits that come with integration. Of course, there will be inevitable obstacles and setbacks, but the investors that see this opening as a potential opportunity and carefully evaluate the benefits and costs of investing in Cambodia will benefit the most from their investments, as will the people of Cambodia. And that’s where I’ll end. Because curiously missing from the discussion in Siem Reap, in my opinion, was the one huge competitive advantage that Cambodia enjoys – and that would be the Cambodian people themselves with their tremendous resilience, their entrepreneurial spirit, their capacity for hard work, their heart.
