Brief from Cambodia (1)

Employment:

There are more than 20 thousand Cambodians working abroad both legally and illegally. Most of them are in Thailand, reported Koh Santepheap yesterday.

The other two destinations for Cambodian workers are Malaysia and South Korea.So far there have been 18 companies registered with the government in transferring Cambodian labour abroad, added the paper.

Development

Cambodia and the United States will sign agreements on trade, agriculture and industry on Monday the 15th, Xinhua published. But there is no detail of the agreements.

The agreements will be signed during the US deputy Secretary of State,John D. Negroponte, visit to the Kingdom, added the news agency. The US will also grant a twenty-four-million project to Cambodian health sector.

Economy:

Cambodian inflation rate increased to 22 percent in July, Minister of planning told AFP last week. High prices of global oil and food are the two main reasons behind the inflation surging, continued the minister.

According to AFP, the rate was increased from 18.7 percent in January. This rate is not so high comparing to some of neighbouring countries, said the minister.

Comments

Will Cambodia catch the cold?

When the US sneezes, the whole world catches the cold. It is of course true because the US is the most powerful country in both politic and economy. The current financial crisis is a clear example. The US banking system and corporations are facing unstable situations; public spending is down. Economic transactions between the US and the world are less. As the result, the world export to the US decreases. The main focus here is whether Cambodia is among the cold catchers. It is hard to deny that Cambodia is still healthy while others have already been affected. Some predictions, including the IMF and World Bank, say the country's garment sector, which depends heavily on the US market, will affect by the US consumer saving. But this is somehow not really true. Americans at this financial crisis period try to cut their spending on luxurious commodities. The General Motor example of being bankruptcy is a sign that cars are not American choices anymore. Cambodian garment, on the other h...

Too much empathy for others could lead to despair. Compassion is the answer!

Some workplaces closed their doors and staff lost their income. Since Covid-19 pandemic started, I have travelled to many places in the countries. I have talked to some people about their livelihoods. Although Cambodia has not experienced community transmission of the disease, it is obvious to witness economical impacts on people’s lives. Their income is decreased or taken away when their businesses go slower, and their workplaces are closed. This means less money for rent, food and medical care. Each family member in particular children needs to limit their basic needs. They could be in such a situation for longer! Those were the words I heard during my conversations with them. Thinking about their wellbeings afterwards makes me overwhelmed. I kept worrying about from one thing to another, especially about affected children and elders, which made me sad and exhausted. My sadness and exhaustion, according to neuroscientists and psychologists, could be an “empathy fatigue”. It is m...

A long suffer from landmine

Resulted from decades of war, Cambodia is left with poor infrastructures and almost zero of human resources. Even worst, the country is still struggling with landmines, one of the country's silent killers. It a slow and paintful process to clear one signle landmine. A deminer could spend the whole day to just identify and clear one. All of my friends, I would like to invite all of you to spend 3 minutes on a documentary about landmine clearance. It is an effort to rescue land for farmers. Enjoy it and I am waiting for your comments.

Bunly Meas

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