The government announced that Prime Minister Hun Manet’s first year of office has seen significant economic and national development, although civil society urged the government to address human rights issues which remain unresolved.
In a press conference on Monday, government spokesperson Pen Bona and Minister Delegate Jean Francois Taing highlighted the new government’s achievements in the first year, noting its progress in peace, political stability and investment.
In July last year, Cambodian People’s Party won a landslide victory, securing 120 out of 125 seats contested in the national election, allowing it to form the government of the seventh mandate, with Hun Manet appointed to succeed his father Hun Sen as prime minister. He assumed the new role on August 7 last year.
Efforts by Hun Manet are ongoing to engage more with the public and attract foreign investments, according to Bona and Taing. The government was also in the midst of reforming the health, education and agriculture sectors as well as the justice system.
Bona said the government has strengthened human resources by implementing the Vocational Training Policy Program, which has offered opportunities to 50,000 people to acquire new skills. The target is to support up to 1.5 million people.
A policy has also been set up to help over 110,000 farmers by deploying more than 250 trained agricultural officers in communes to resolve “thousands of issues”.
The Ministry of Agriculture has established eight modern agricultural communities in six provinces where farmers are divided into groups to sell agricultural products as a community and to support each other.
However, farmers continue to face significant challenges during the dry season. They criticized the authorities for failing to address their needs, as water shortages persist every year without effective solutions.
This year, approximately 760,000 hectares of dryland rice were planted across several provinces, but a severe lack of water and inadequate support affected output, causing farmers to worry about their debt obligations.
The Techo Funan Canal project is one of Cambodia’s “greatest achievements” under Hun Manet, which has been “lauded by Cambodians”, Bona said.
“Previously, the Suez Canal and Panama Canal were known to the world, but when the Techo Funan Canal emerges, the world will acknowledge Cambodia’s canal,” he added.
Despite praise for the Funan Techo canal, affected residents were anxious and uncertain about compensation, even though construction has started following the recent groundbreaking for the project.
Bona said one of Hun Manet’s outstanding achievements in his first year as premier was that he made 152 visits nationwide where he met locals and assured them that roads, bridges, schools and pagodas would be constructed and medical services would be provided.
He also offered solutions, such as cash subsidies, canteen improvements, transportation and wage increase for workers, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
Allow free speech to get true information
Last month, UN Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn noted that civic and political freedoms, as well as the rights of indigenous people were restricted despite the new leadership in the government.
Cambodia also continues to experience challenges in attracting investment from U.S. companies due to concerns of rule of law and corruption.
NGO rights group Licadho operations director Am Sam Ath said while the new government has shown progress which is “visible” to the public, fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, peaceful gathering, press freedom and political freedom also need to be reviewed.
He said political issues and respect for human rights in Cambodia remain a controversial topic between the government and international community. “They [international community] continue to express concern and urge Cambodia to improve democracy and respect for human rights.”
The concerns were related to development funds and tax incentives by the international community which could further benefit the Cambodian economy if the government addressed the problems.
Meanwhile, Adhoc president Ny Sokha told CamboJA News that the new government has yet to resolve or make any significant progress on political disputes or the detention of social activists.
“Instead, we see that the restrictions on freedoms continue, and they are all related to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, especially peaceful protests which are almost non-existent,” he said.
The government is still trying to interpret the law with regards to the arrest of activists and politicians which is inconsistent with international interpretations, as highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur in July.
Sokha urged the government to allow human rights, especially public criticism or the freedom of expression, to prevail so that they can get “true information” and improve their response to the citizens.
If Cambodia does not address these rights, it will be difficult to attract investment.
But if the situation improves, investment will automatically increase. “Both foreign businessmen and investors will warmly cooperate with the government to invest in our country,” he said.
High number of visits but outcome unclear
Jean Francois Taing said Hun Manet met with more than 50 key leaders, including prime ministers and presidents in the first three months of his tenure.
He added that Cambodia welcomed investments from every country, regardless of their political ideology.
From January to June, Cambodia charted a total of 190 fixed asset investments worth $3.2 billion, including new projects and expansions of existing ones. These investments created 168,507 jobs. In July alone, there were 41 new and expansion projects worth approximately $396 million.
In addition, Cambodia signed investment, trade and development Memorandum of Understanding with China, Japan, France, South Korea, and Thailand within a year of Hun Manet’s tenure. The agreements span various sectors, including investment, agriculture, business, education, national defense, health, and infrastructure.
Political analyst Em Sovannara believes that the presentation of the government’s achievements should include clear data and documents to build public trust.
“Generally, government officials or spokespersons always highlight the positives, but they tend not to mention the shortcomings or obstacles within the global and regional political context, nor do they focus on the challenges Cambodia faces, for example low tourism,” he said.
While it was commendable to announce investment projects that aim to create over 168,000 jobs, it remains a plan which “has not been implemented”. It is also uncertain how many years it would take to “actually create those jobs”, he opined.
Sovannara said Cambodia still lacked policies related to investment, such as anti-corruption measures and justice in society, which deter investors from investing. Additionally, Cambodia should establish a commercial court.
Geopolitical observer in Asia-pacific region Seng Vanly said the seventh-term government is working to promote economic growth through vigorous economic diplomacy, which plays an important role in expanding and strengthening Cambodia’s diplomatic relations with foreign countries.
He noted that Hun Manet’s inauguration as Prime Minister involved numerous visits including multilateral, bilateral, and others, which demonstrated a broad scope of these relations.
“The number of visits we’ve already seen is a success, but their success may be difficult to assess due to the need for accurate documentation and time constraints,” Vanly said. So, that would mean that some international cooperation did not yield immediate results.
“If the leadership can improve international relations leading to positive economic growth and better living standards for locals, then Hun Manet’s diplomatic efforts will be successful, but if the number of visits is high while local economic outcomes remain problematic, then diplomacy is not effective either,” he added.
(Additional reporting by Seoung Nimol)
