By Vutha
EuroCham Cambodia, representing more than 350 companies, regrets decision but vows to continue partnership and engagement with Royal Government on its business and development goals, according to EuroCham Cambodia’s recent press release.
As the main representative of the large European investment and business community in Cambodia, EuroCham is deeply concerned about the possible negative consequences of this decision on current and future business between the European Union and Cambodia.
Since 2015, the European Union has invested heavily in building and strengthening commercial ties with Cambodia through the activities of EuroCham, enabling the organization to become a key facilitator of public private collaboration and successful economic development.
This decision not only jeopardizes the past and future achievements of this partnership, but also other development initiatives funded by the European Union over the last two decades which have helped to vastly improve the socio-economic status of millions of Cambodians.
“We are very concerned that this investigation will send wrong signals about the prospects of the market to potential manufacturing investors during 2019, and that a possible withdrawal in 2020 will have a terrible impact on the employment of hundreds of thousands -often women- and many more of their dependents”, says Arnaud Darc, EuroCham Cambodia’s Chairman.
EuroCham views this decision as counterproductive to the aims of the European Union’s General Scheme of Preferences (GSP) that seeks to eradicate poverty in vulnerable developing nations by improving their export competitiveness via an opening of its markets to them.
“This decision by the European Commissioner, whose responsibility is foremost on trade matters and who, in our view, has stepped into the geopolitical arena, directly endangers European business interests in Cambodia”, says Mr. Arnaud Darc.
“However, this is not yet a confirmation for a withdrawal; EuroCham will in the coming years support the Royal Government and Cambodia’s exporters in improving relevant industries, legislation, and production or export processes to mitigate the effects of this investigation or, in the worst case, a withdrawal of the EBA in 2020. At the same time, we continue to fight for the EBA to remain in place.”
EuroCham insists that constructive dialogue and cooperation are the most effective tools to address concerns of the European Commission on human rights and democratization, rather than confronting the issues via unilateral economic pressure, which will not further the European cause in the Kingdom.
“We remain dedicated to supporting the growth and development of Cambodia (as well as European trade with Cambodia), and continue to support the Royal Government, the national Chamber of Commerce and other partners in order to minimize the impact of this decision. We are ready to help with mitigating the effects while continuing to support the Royal Government in improving the competitiveness and growth of Cambodia”, says Mr. Arnaud
Economist Dr. Mey Kalyan, senior adviser to the Supreme National Economic Council, said that if the EU removes EBA from Cambodia, Cambodia may be affected, but it is also time for Cambodia to change its mindset from reliance too much on the other and to work hard itself.
“The EBA is not a new thing, and the issue of the economy is involved with international politics, so the withdrawal of EBA from us is a problem, but the EBA withdrawal can just happens before and after, so we have to rely on ourselves and diversify our economy,” Dr. Kalyan said.
“The government has been aware of this for a long time, so we have to be self-reliant and although globalization needs to be mutually relied, we must work hard and not rely too heavily on the grant as well as EBA,” he said. “The Ministry of Economy and Finance has been reformed and the reforms are really hurting but we have to do it,” he added.
On the one hand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia on October 11, 2018 issued a special statement responding to the EU on EBA on Cambodia’s goods and considered the most unfair decision.
The Royal Government of Cambodia considers the decision to be injustice because it shows that the European Union has consistently denied the progress Cambodia has made, despite the recent tragedies in recent years. Implementation of numerous international conventions that are linked to this program, especially in the areas of labor rights Land rights.
The Cambodian government deeply regretted the serious charges against the Royal Government on the basis of the EU Commission’s report in July. The government is disappointed with the EU’s lack of transparency, which does not reveal the content of the report that the EU has taken as its basis for its biased decision.
