A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 30 April 2008

PM: Northeast region will become Cambodia’s fourth economic ‘pole’

Eng Chhay Eang, Secreatry-General of the Sam Rainsy Party.

By Neth Pheaktra
The Mekong Times

Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that by 2015 the northeast of the country will become the nation’s fourth focal point for industry and commerce after traditional economic powerhouses Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. “The areas of Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri provinces and other parts of Kratie and Preah Vihear provinces will become the fourth economic ‘pole’,” he said yesterday during the inauguration of National Highway 7 and Sekong Bridge in Stung Treng province.
The vast potential of natural resources in the Kingdom will transform the livelihoods of the ethnic minorities currently living there, said the premier. “For example, hydroelectricity is not only able to supply power to local markets, but also neighboring countries,” he said. “The northeast region is rich of mine deposits which can be exploited …. This is also a big tourist destination for Cambodia.”
Kang Chandararoth, director of the Cambodia Institute of Development Studies, said the establishment of the northeast regions as an economic “pole” would benefit the country’s economic development. “Many economic poles would balance the development; labor forces would not be concentrated at only one place,” he said. “If there is no distribution of the investment capital and labor forces, economic instability could occur and hinder development.” “The more economic poles that are formed, the better it is for the nation’s free market economy,” Kang Chandararoth continued, adding that it will offer more options to potential investors. However opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang voiced concern over making any hasty decisions to develop the region, requesting the government conduct an in-depth study first.
“Before turning any area into an economic pole, [we] have to make a proper study of the economic potential including impacts and profits from the development,” he said. “We [the SRP] are worried because in the past there were mostly negative environmental impacts and citizens when the government introduces developments … It made the people lose their land because the rich and powerful people took the opportunity to abuse the development project for their personal benefit,” said Eng Chhay Eang.
However, Hun Sen defended Cambodia’s past developments. “I can say that in [my] political life, I rarely do anything by accident. I always take internal and external factors into consideration.”

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