Cambodia's kerosene refinery in Sihanoukville caught fire in 1971-Photo JEAN FERNAND LAPLANCHE.By Khmerization
Source: RFA
Reports of oil and gas finds in the past few years have made the Cambodian people to believe that Cambodia could be the new wealthy nation in the Asian region, but the Cambodian government recently admitted that Cambodia can only earn to the tune of $100 million in revenue from oil and natural gases per year, which is lower than the revenue from the garment and tourism industries.
Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Secretary of State of Finance Ministry, said the government hopes Cambodia will be able to earn oil and gas revenue in the next one to two years, but only about $100 million per year, much lower than the billions of dollars earlier guesstimated. "This is the guesstimation based on the information we have received so far. If in the future we received new information, our guesstimation may change. But now, due to information we received we guesstimated that oil and gas revenue will be average. I said 'average' because in the first few years revenue will be less but as time progressed revenues might increase. So, in the 10 t0 15 years time, we averaged that the revenue will be $100 million per year. This is our pre-estimation, but sometimes the information is not accurate", he said.
According to estimations from international financial institutions like the World Bank, UNDP and IMF, Cambodia's mineral reserves can contain up to 2 billion barrels of oil and 10 million cubic metres of natural gases.
Mr. Cheam Yeap, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, agreed with the government's estimation. "We see that in the first few years we can only extract about $100 million of oil and gas revenue per year. From around the years 2022-2023, we probably can extract about $1 billion worth of oil and gas revenue per year. This is just an estimation. Estimation can be right and can be wrong, it cannot be totally correct", he said.
The civil society as well as opposition parties are exciting about the oil finds, but at the same time are concerned about corruption and the transparency of the management of the oil and gas revenue.
Mr. Morm Sambath, president of the Cambodian Alliance Organisation, said the oil and gas revenue can help lift the living standard of the Cambodian people, but he is concerned about the quality of the management of the revenue.
Mr. Son Chhay, a senior MP from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, echoed Mr. Morm Sambath's sentiment. "We want to remind the donor countries, especially the World Bank and the UNDP, remind the government as well as the National Assembly, about their national obligations to create laws to oversee the oil and gas revenue. People are concerned that all the money that we received from oil and gas revenue could be lost (through corruption). The mismangement of the oil and gas revenue could cause bad consequence to the society, like we did not use the revenue to spend on other important sectors of the nation", he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has earlier mocked the opposition parties and the international community for being too concerned about the management of the oil and gas revenue at a time when they have not even been extracted yet. "We don't even know yet if we have the gold or not, but we are already worried that we won't have the paper to wrap it", he said figuratively, using a Cambodian saying.
Currently, Cambodia earned about $3 billion from garment exports and $1.7 billion from the tourism industry per year.
Source: RFA
Reports of oil and gas finds in the past few years have made the Cambodian people to believe that Cambodia could be the new wealthy nation in the Asian region, but the Cambodian government recently admitted that Cambodia can only earn to the tune of $100 million in revenue from oil and natural gases per year, which is lower than the revenue from the garment and tourism industries.
Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Secretary of State of Finance Ministry, said the government hopes Cambodia will be able to earn oil and gas revenue in the next one to two years, but only about $100 million per year, much lower than the billions of dollars earlier guesstimated. "This is the guesstimation based on the information we have received so far. If in the future we received new information, our guesstimation may change. But now, due to information we received we guesstimated that oil and gas revenue will be average. I said 'average' because in the first few years revenue will be less but as time progressed revenues might increase. So, in the 10 t0 15 years time, we averaged that the revenue will be $100 million per year. This is our pre-estimation, but sometimes the information is not accurate", he said.
According to estimations from international financial institutions like the World Bank, UNDP and IMF, Cambodia's mineral reserves can contain up to 2 billion barrels of oil and 10 million cubic metres of natural gases.
Mr. Cheam Yeap, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, agreed with the government's estimation. "We see that in the first few years we can only extract about $100 million of oil and gas revenue per year. From around the years 2022-2023, we probably can extract about $1 billion worth of oil and gas revenue per year. This is just an estimation. Estimation can be right and can be wrong, it cannot be totally correct", he said.
The civil society as well as opposition parties are exciting about the oil finds, but at the same time are concerned about corruption and the transparency of the management of the oil and gas revenue.
Mr. Morm Sambath, president of the Cambodian Alliance Organisation, said the oil and gas revenue can help lift the living standard of the Cambodian people, but he is concerned about the quality of the management of the revenue.
Mr. Son Chhay, a senior MP from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, echoed Mr. Morm Sambath's sentiment. "We want to remind the donor countries, especially the World Bank and the UNDP, remind the government as well as the National Assembly, about their national obligations to create laws to oversee the oil and gas revenue. People are concerned that all the money that we received from oil and gas revenue could be lost (through corruption). The mismangement of the oil and gas revenue could cause bad consequence to the society, like we did not use the revenue to spend on other important sectors of the nation", he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has earlier mocked the opposition parties and the international community for being too concerned about the management of the oil and gas revenue at a time when they have not even been extracted yet. "We don't even know yet if we have the gold or not, but we are already worried that we won't have the paper to wrap it", he said figuratively, using a Cambodian saying.
Currently, Cambodia earned about $3 billion from garment exports and $1.7 billion from the tourism industry per year.
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