Asia view: Cambodia offers promise for the adventurous sort

By VAUGHAN YARWOOD

The Kingdom of Cambodia - corrupt, impoverished, scarred by wars and floods of biblical proportions - doesn't even register on New Zealand's export radar.

Perhaps it should.

In 1992, after 25 years of bloody fighting, Cambodia started putting itself back together with the aid of a 20,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission, whose job was to reinstate free elections and help clear mines.

New Zealanders served there with the UN, and New Zealand companies supplied the mission with food, drinks and even aviation electronics.

But all that is history.

The only visible reminder of the New Zealand presence is the Kiwi Bar in Phnom Penh.

Most of Cambodia's economic development these days is driven by the Chinese, long-time allies of King Sihanouk and of the Khmer Rouge.

Trade between the two has also dramatically increased, from $6.8 million in 1989 to $371 million in 1998, according to official Chinese figures.

But the rest of the international community hasn't entirely forgotten Cambodia.

One of the biggest aid programmes in Southeast Asia, the EU-sponsored Prasac II, started late last year to help rehabilitate the country's shattered agriculture industry with a three-year $170 million programme to improve domestic water supply and irrigation, assist with crop diversification and set up micro-enterprise credit.

Prasac II's international co-director, New Zealander Manfred Staab, puts the funding of the project, which employs 650 locals and 56 international staff, into perspective, saying it is the amount Bill Gates used to advertise Microsoft Office.

Last year's floods, the region's worst in 70 years, formed a bitter prelude to the aid project, destroying much of the rice crop and setting back the country's rebuilding programme by at least a year.

The swollen Mekong river left 1.3 million Cambodians in urgent need of food and shelter and caused damage estimated at $1.14 billion.

It was a deluge that the struggling country, with its frail economy and pitiful transport infrastructure, could have done without.

Despite such hardships, opportunities for business do exist, though in a context unfamiliar to most Westerners.

The usual banking and legal business frameworks are largely absent from the equation, ruling it out for most Western companies.

But, says Mr Staab, if you look at the country with an adventurous spirit, the potential is high.

Our transtasman neighbours apparently have just that sort of attitude.

The Australian Business Association in Cambodia is active, and the visit to Cambodia last year by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer became a catalyst for developing business links.

The recently established Australian centre for education is also an effective business conduit, and Australian universities often advertise in Cambodia's press.

Education and agriculture are both fields of opportunity for New Zealand organisations.

Literacy rates are low - 48 per cent for men and 22 per cent for women.

Khmer is the official language of Cambodia, but the need to transact business with a broad range of international organisations has led to an increasing demand for English-language education.

The Auckland University of Technology manages a contract for teacher training at the Cambodian Institute of Technology, but Mr Staab sees new opportunities in the creation of rural English reading and writing programmes.

Agriculture also holds promise. Cambodia faces a huge task in repairing the damage caused by the Khmer Rouge's fanatical farm collectivisation policies, under which more than a million Cambodians starved to death.

The legacy of fear is evident today in the reluctance of farmers to contemplate any proposals involving cooperatives.

Aid money far outweighs foreign investment by up to 300 per cent, says the Cambodian Development Review, so one of the most effective ways for New Zealand to increase its involvement is by designing and implementing aid projects.

At present, New Zealand administers a $1.3 million aid programme.

Mr Staab likens Cambodia to another lost opportunity in the making, East Timor. We have a military presence there, but only for a short time. Where is the economic development? After the soldiers return home the chapter will be closed.

Mr Staab's business card has a final and conclusive point to make.

The e-mail address printed on it is hosted by Cambodian-based ISP bigpond.com.kh. Bigpond is owned by Telstra.

Yes, he says, the Australians have more or less taken over telecommunications in Cambodia.

* Vaughan Yarwood can be contacted at hiero@ihug.co.nz