Cambodian minister thanks M’sians for boom in his country
Published on: Sunday, February 16, 2020
By: FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: Cambodian senior minister Ly Thuch has acknowledged that Malaysian businessmen played a large role in turning his country from a ruined state into a nation with a booming economy.
He told FMT Malaysians were among the first people to invest in Cambodia after three decades of war and famine had left it with nothing to offer “other than ashes”.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We had nothing left,” he said. “Almost all our intellectuals had been killed by the Khmer Rouge.
“We needed teachers and we needed midwives, hospitals, schools, houses, roads, clothing, everything. And Malaysians came forward to invest.”
Cambodia’s economy, driven by tourism and garment exports, is now one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia.
According to the World Bank, it is among the fastest growing in the world, averaging at 8% between 1998 and 2018.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ly is in Malaysia to receive a lifetime achievement award from a local company.
Malaysian entrepreneurs first entered the ravaged country to produce textiles, and Ly noted that the textile industry has since grown into one that is worth US$12 billion a year in exports.
ADVERTISEMENT
Cambodian senior minister Ly Thuch.
He said Malaysian businesses also started the construction sector in Cambodia, “which is now still booming”.
Among other businesses engaged in by Malaysians are those that come under the education, telecommunications, banking and tourism sectors.
Ly said these were benefiting Cambodians through transfer of knowledge and employment.
“From ashes, we are now heading for the skies,” he said.
Ly, who is the vice-president and secretary-general of Cambodia’s Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, also spoke of efforts to clear his country of the land mines planted during the years of war.
“We are now aiming to free our country of land mines by 2025,” he said, adding that the areas cleared so far would constitute three times the size of Singapore.
“We have another 2,000 sq km to clear, mostly located in rural areas and forests.”
He said one land mine could kill an entire family, adding that more than 20% of Cambodia’s children had been handicapped by mine blasts.
“The government couldn’t build schools or hospitals until land mines were cleared,” he said.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
