Prime Minister Hun Manet held discussions with South Korean ambassador to Cambodia Park Jung-wook on August 13.
Prime Minister Hun Manet held discussions with South Korean ambassador to Cambodia Park Jung-wook on August 13. Manet travelled to South Korea in May of this year to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and other senior officials, as well as several high-level members of the South Korean business community.
Since assuming the role of prime minister, Manet has tried his best to attract foreign investment to Cambodia.
He first travelled to China, and then Vietnam, Thailand, France, Malaysia and South Korea to address his strong commitment to attracting foreign investors and to share Cambodia’s position on various issues that are affecting the global community.
Among the ASEAN nations, South Korea has the strongest relations with Vietnam and Indonesia, with Vietnam having the largest exchange of trade. At present, Cambodia and Laos have less of a relationship with Seoul’s powerful economy.
Following the May visit, Manet and President Yoon Suk Yeol signed off on a strategic partnership, the most recent to be introduced by the Kingdom.
South Korea is very important to Cambodia as it welcomes many Cambodian workers and provides education opportunities for the Kingdom’s students and officials, providing high salaries and excellent qualifications.
During Manet’s August 13 meeting with the ambassador, four main points were discussed, with a view to ensuring they will be beneficial to both sides.
The four agenda items were trade and investment, national defence and security, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
Cambodia should pay close attention to South Korea, as it represents large business opportunities and is also a strong military power, ranked number five in the world.
The four discussion points that the two sides discussed require serious action by the Cambodian government.
It must take note of the fact that the Kingdom welcomes few Korean tourists, and also that there are far fewer South Koreans doing business in Cambodia than in Vietnam.
The first step is to guarantee the continued safety and security of the South Korean diplomats and businesspeople who are in Cambodia right now, as they will share the circumstances on the ground in the Kingdom, thus ensuring the news reaches their fellow countrymen who may want to visit or run businesses here.
The establishment of a Special Economic Zone for South Korean businesspeople would also be an excellent step, and demonstrate the Kingdom’s strong commitment to attracting Korean people.
South Korean citizens and diplomats should understand that Cambodia desires to have their nation as a good partner, and the two countries should hold more discussions and negotiations to further understand one another.
Recent reporting of possible terrorist attacks by North Korean intelligence operatives on South Korean diplomatic facilities in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, as well as some parts of China and Russia, are at the forefront of South Korean foreign policy, and the Cambodian government must prioritise the safety and security it provides to diplomatic staff and their families.
In terms of trade and business, the Cambodian government should study the lessons it can learn from Vietnam. Despite Vietnam being a socialist nation and South Korea a democratic one, the two countries are able to successfully invest in one another, so the Kingdom should take note of the details of their relationship.
In addition to examining the lessons it can learn from Vietnam, the government should look closely at its foreign direct investment framework, in order to determine whether it is attractive to foreign investors or not.
Cambodian people enjoy Korean food and language, and South Korean music and films are very popular among Cambodian youth.
The most important things required to attract South Koreans to Cambodia are safety and security, a good business atmosphere, a taxation system that is not overly complicated and strong human resource capacities.
It should also be remembered that corruption is a silent but powerful factor that may discourage South Korean businesspeople – as well as other foreign investors – from coming to Cambodia.
In conclusion, it should not be difficult to attract South Korean businesspeople and gain the trust of South Korean diplomats as well as their government.
The Cambodian government just needs to understand their needs and provide them.
Once the necessary policies are in place, the Kingdom’s excellent reputation will be shared globally and Cambodia will see more and more South Korean arrivals.
Cambodia’s government should know that their South Korean counterparts aspire to deepen the relationship, so they should be sharing as much information as possible to ensure this can happen.
Dr. Seun Sam is a policy analyst at the Royal Academy of Cambodia. The views expressed in this article are his own.
