Speeches
Remarks by Chargé d'Affaires Piper A. W. Campbell, Launch of U.S. Embassy's Khmer-language Website
Information Resource Center
August 16, 2007
Your Excellency Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information;
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press
It is my pleasure to welcome you to our Information Resource Center this morning for the launch of the Embassy's Khmer-language website. We are particularly excited, as we believe we are the first embassy with a website that engages the Cambodian people entirely in your own language.
The Internet is both an unprecedented source of information and a unique medium of worldwide communication. In the last few years, “Internet” has become a household word for many Cambodians – especially those under the age of 20! The Internet now is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of Cambodians wishing to learn more about the world around them, and to participate in vital discussions about Cambodia and the global community.
One important trend that illustrates this change is the growth in the number of Internet cafes across Cambodia. Just a few years ago, there were only a handful of such cafes in the country. Today, a quick search of the on-line Yellow Pages returns listings for 346 Internet cafes in 9 Cambodian cities and provinces. And this doesn't count Internet availability at schools, universities, libraries and other research centers such as the one we are in right now.
The next big Internet revolution for many Cambodians will be accessing the web at home.
The U.S. Embassy has long embraced the Internet as a means of fostering a sense of mutual values and shared interests between Americans and Cambodians, and our new Khmer site will dramatically enhance this effort. We began working on this project more than 18 months ago. There were many technical hurdles that had to be overcome and more than 800 pages of website content had to be translated, but we think the payoff in increased information flow makes it well worth the effort.
Now Cambodians won't need to be able to read English to learn more about the U.S.-Cambodian bilateral relationship, to better understand the policies of the U.S. Government, or to study American culture, society and institutions. When looking for information about applying for a visa to visit the U.S., they can read about the procedures in Khmer. All of this information, and so much more, is now available in Khmer on our new website.
To conclude, I'd like to quote from a source that people would not normally associate with a subject as technical as the Internet -- the Vatican -- which has stated, "Cyberspace ought to be a resource of comprehensive information and service available without charge to all, and in a wide range of languages. Public institutions have a particular responsibility to establish and maintain sites of this kind." Our new Khmer-language website responds to this need, and we hope the Cambodian public will find it an invaluable resource as relations between our two countries continue to broaden and deepen.
Somebody said, “The Internet is like electricity. Electricity lights up everything, while the internet lights up knowledge." We hope that our new Khmer website will itself add a little extra light. Thank you.
