The Mirage of the Cambodian Economic Development

by Khmer Observer

Cambodia’s stock market is expected to be on full operation in next July. As in many other economic sectors, Vietnamese companies (proudly outlined by the article below) are one of the first movers in this market.

Cambodia is one of the least developed countries on list of World Bank with very low income per capita. Khmer people can hardly survive because of the pervasive poverty prevailing all over the country.

Moreover, there is no industrial policy, nor financial incentives to encourage Khmer local entrepreneurship. Khmer people are obviously evicted from all business and economic activities due to the lack political support from the ruling class.

The political decision to create the stock market in Cambodia at this stage of economic backwardness is obviously a way to organize a “double plundering”of Khmer resources (economic and natural resources).

The first plundering is taking in the form of control of Khmer economic sectors like rubber plantation, tourism, communication (Viettel), Oil& gas, etc. This plundering is being “hidden” by the so-called “Vietnamese direct investment” that no Khmer can check the real entry of financial amounts into Khmer national bank account or other account belonging to Khmer financial system.

The stock market represents surely an additional way to “steal” income from Khmer household through this unfettered and totally immature financiarization of the Cambodian economy with no foundation of real economy.

The current political process will obviously accelerate the colonization of Cambodia by Vietnam in the following forms: political colonization through the implementation of Hanoi’s politburo in every level of Khmer administration, demographic colonization through the politically organized settlement of Vietnamese in Cambodia in a very large scale and economic colonization through the implementation of Hanoi Corp. disguised behind the “virtual direct investment”.

In this context, there is no doubt an asymmetry of information, which will have, as in the past, an incommensurable social cost for Khmer people. Khmer overseas people need to correct this asymmetry by undertaking the necessary actions to let all Khmer people know about the invisible part of this mirage of Cambodia’s economic development.