Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)
Oil and gas will provide the key revenues of the Cambodian economy in the coming years, making the need to strengthen public financial systems even more pressing, a World Bank official said Tuesday.
"Oil and gas revenues will be the key revenue of the Cambodian economy so we would expect to see the Cambodian government strengthen the public financial system," World Bank country economist for Cambodia, Robert Taliercio, told a video-linked press conference hosted in Washington from Phnom Penh.
"We have to be careful of oil and gas exploration here and pay attention to how the government does on this issue," he said.
He said the World Bank was monitoring the situation closely and was issuing a report on the matter every six months.
Key systems coming under the public financial system include a formalized tax system and anti-corruption laws in a post-war economy widely seen as being riddled with graft.
The Cambodian government had promised donors it would pass an anti-corruption law by the end of 2006, but Hun Sen admitted recently that this target now looked unlikely.
Cambodian oil reserves have been discovered in several blocks in offshore waters and significant inland reserves located under Tonle Sap Lake are also expected.
US giant Chevron is currently engaged in exploratory drilling in Block A, a site which alone has been estimated to contain up to 500 million barrels of oil.
Estimates of potential oil and gas revenue for the impoverished nation have ranged up to 1 billion US dollars a year.
Full-scale production is expected to begin by 2010, but donors have already voiced concerns that without adequate checks and balances in place the benefits of the discovery may be siphoned off by the rich and powerful and not be felt in the nation's wider economy.
"Oil and gas revenues will be the key revenue of the Cambodian economy so we would expect to see the Cambodian government strengthen the public financial system," World Bank country economist for Cambodia, Robert Taliercio, told a video-linked press conference hosted in Washington from Phnom Penh.
"We have to be careful of oil and gas exploration here and pay attention to how the government does on this issue," he said.
He said the World Bank was monitoring the situation closely and was issuing a report on the matter every six months.
Key systems coming under the public financial system include a formalized tax system and anti-corruption laws in a post-war economy widely seen as being riddled with graft.
The Cambodian government had promised donors it would pass an anti-corruption law by the end of 2006, but Hun Sen admitted recently that this target now looked unlikely.
Cambodian oil reserves have been discovered in several blocks in offshore waters and significant inland reserves located under Tonle Sap Lake are also expected.
US giant Chevron is currently engaged in exploratory drilling in Block A, a site which alone has been estimated to contain up to 500 million barrels of oil.
Estimates of potential oil and gas revenue for the impoverished nation have ranged up to 1 billion US dollars a year.
Full-scale production is expected to begin by 2010, but donors have already voiced concerns that without adequate checks and balances in place the benefits of the discovery may be siphoned off by the rich and powerful and not be felt in the nation's wider economy.
25 comments:
Help us reform the Cambodia royal Police, give us real freedom and democrasy, or else is too late !
Hun Sen will sele oil to China and do not care about free world.
To free us by that time will cause alot of life, maybe anothe million Cambodian more?
So UN can have another Trail to find who kille us?? Thank a lot after I die!
World Bank and anybody else has a choice: they can watch, or pack up and leave.
Either way, it will make no difference.
SiS
PARIS AGREEMENT HAVE A CLAUSE TO HAVE SIGNATORS TAKE ACTION IF THOSE FOOL LEADERS ABUSE THEIR POWER OR NOT PROVIDE CAMBODIAN FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!
Why watch? suggest some investment plans that would be a good use for our Nation and our poeple.
You are the bank. You ought to know some ways of investing or creating some Trust Fund or something useful for all of us.
Go right ahead and charge some fees, but make sure our money is going where it should be going!
King was giving the right to own the Kingdom. He needs to steps up and be on a look out for this or else he is just one more sorry as..
Did you hear that $8 billions from Iraqi's oil disappeared and no one is accountable for? and this is just happening a couple of weeks ago!
Don't tell me that the world bank is also bunch of an idiots and useless poeple.
Please do something, watch us with your action and not just with your eyes! It could be very well too late by the time you start acting up or have a fight with wrap with gold government!
Ordinary Khmer
DEAR EVERYONE
Please stop respond to YOUR OWN SHADOW. He tries to get your attention. Just ignore him. and go on with your regular comments for the article. Thank you so much.
Our dream is that some housing projects are waiting at the corridors while you The world bank is negociating with our government.
As soon as the money starts rolling in, they build houses and all of our people are moving in as soon as they are done. We are expecting that all will be paid for by our oil money!
We are extreemly sick and tire of living in the sack!!!! under the rain and horrible weathers day after days..weeks after weeks and months after months. You know...Everything else will follow when our kids finishing school! Right now, we want good housing, decent food, some luxuries to live comfortably, to raise our kids and raise them in peace! and a trust fund of a million bucks? set up for each and individual of our family for future needs?. Can you help us make it happen? Wait! if you think this is too much, our answer is No. Each and everyone of us may have different dream, wants and needs and it could be much more. There are only 14 millions of us and to divide from B$ of our oil wealth... is nothing. Nothing at all.
You know you will bring big smile to us this time for real:)
Ordinary Khmer
Dear all,
The robot is comming back again, please ignose Mr.7.11am, as he used the same phrase in all comments today trying to distract us.
Remember the illegal logging that destroyed the Khmer's forest and made government's officials wealthy? Despite threatning action from the world bank and donor nations, nothing came of it.
This CPP government will continue stealing Khmer national resourses for their party's gain until there is nothing more to do so. They've gotten away with their bad deeds before...why should they stop at oil?
To 7:40am
You are absolutely right. Why should they stop? There is nothing to stop them. They got it made and wrap with gold.
Cambodians themselves should have ideas about the utilisation of oil revenue. Foreign experts can help but a country's development or rather sustained development largely depends on the resourcefulness, industriousness, enterpreneurship, skills and hardwork of its people. I'm taking the liverty of posting again some of the ideas I put forward several days ago:
. Development projects using a lot labour in rural areas to generate income for the poor;
. Construction of economic infrastructure: roads, brigdges, railaways, hydro-electric dams, turning rivers, lackes and sea into a giant fish pond;
. Construction of social infrastructure: universities, colleges, schools, scholarships, hospitals...;
. Scholarships for long-tern study in advanced countries..to have higly qualified techinicians, scientists, ingineers, doctors...for the industrialisation...
. Industrialisation: turning Kompong Cham into an international industrial and commercial centre;
. Etc...
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong.
I agree with Mr. Loa Mong Hay but projects of such magnitude require planning from the government with visions and clearly defined priorities to improve the standard of living of its people.
From what I see, I am pessimistic to say the least. Just look at the garment sector which contributes a majority of the export. We import most of the raw materials needed to produce the clothing. No locally produce materials such as cotton, ink , machine ete. are available to sustain the industry.
I can't help but thinking of Nigeria whose abundant natural oil resource couple with corruption fail to improve the standard living of its people. Will we repeat this mistake like the Nigerians?
Let's find and suggest ways to avoid walking along Nigeria's path. Simply moaning and groaning wouldn't help, would it? Let's be positive and proactive. A proverb in the book Srihitopradesh, a high school textbook before 1975 which I read and reread so many times, says that "no animal of prey would run into a sleeping lion." So let's build road blocks and fences to prevent any walk along that path. Let's trace a better path a new dirversion leading to better utilisation of our nation's resources. It can be done if we can put our heads together. I'm sure of it. We have pitied ourselves and remained passive for so long. It's about time we stopped this, and developped ideas and took action. LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Thank you Mr. LAO Mong Hay Cambodian people need many many more people like you.
Our sincere appreciation and gratitude,
Ordianry Khmers
With all the oil money, Cambodia need to subsidize the job creation, the housing, and the healthcare, and invest heavily in the know how technology, invest heavily in spy network to get rid of all the Vietcong double agents in Cambodia and why not create economic spy! Invest heavily in mordernizing Cambodian army, ground,naval, and air power to surpass any neighboring country!
Inaddition invest heavily in all field of education! I want to see more doctors and engineers and transform Cambodia into the most clean and safe country in Asia
Inaddition invest heavily in clearing all the UXO from Cambodia like Kuwait!
There is one more thing that I like to see to showcase how powerful and intelligence Cambodian people can be and that is to create the CAMBODIA SPACE AGENCY and Cambodian can build their own rocket and satellite system and deliver it into space!
This is not talking about excess and this is talking about possibility and at the same time make more money in the process! Can you imagine sending your own satellite system into Earth orbit to capture communication signal or data image and send it back to Earth and make million and million of dollar! The cell phone market are so big in the billion of dollars which need satellite system to make it works!
Cambodia can build many landmark big than Angkor Wat many time over!
The ideas are endless just use your imagination!
I would appreciate knowing the outline of each of the projects proposed above: goal, strategy and activties to achieve that goal. LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
HI KI-MEDIA AND ALL !
AFTER ONE WEEK OF TENSE AND RUDE DISCUSSION BETWEEN " THE PATRIOT & OWN SHADOW", OUR SURVEY CAME TO A FINAL CONCLUSION AS FOLLOWS:
1- ON KI-MEDIA PROFESSIONALISM OF CREATING AND REPORTING ABOUT POLITICS IN CAMBODIA:
-(i)FIRSTLY, YOUR REPORTS ARE RELEVANT AND CONFORM WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE PRESS ABOUT CAMBODIA POLITICS. THAT IS GOOD FOR ALL OF US KHMER LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE MOTHERLAND.
-(ii)IN YOUR TITLE IN ORANGE, YOU INTENDED TO SHOW YOUR POLITICAL PARTY' S CHOICE. IT IS NOT A PROBLEM BECAUSE FREEDOM OF BELIEF AND IT IS YOUR POLITICAL RIGHT TO SUPORT MR. SAM RAINSY' S PARTY.
-(iii) IN ORDER TO BE MORE PROFESSIONAL IN THE NET, IS KI-MEDIA LOOKING FOR A NEW DIRECTION?
2- ON KI-MEDIA READERS AND SUPPORTERS:
(i) WE CONCLUDED THAT MOST OF THE READERS AND SUPPORTERS LIVE ABROAD:US, AUSTRALIA, CANADA ETC...
(ii) DURING OUR ONE WEEK SURVEY, WE USED STRONG LANGUAGES AND WE APOLOGY IF WE MAY OFFENCE BUT IT WAS PURELY INTEND TO TEST THE WATER AND GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION AND CULTURE OF ALL OF US.
(iii) THE SURVEY SHOWS THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES OF READERS:
- THE FIRST GROUP OF READERS ARE VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR COMMENTS, VERY POLITE AND BALANCED VIEWS: THEY ARE CULTIVATED AND EDUCATED... BRAVO!
THEIR VIEWS COULD BE AS A LESSON FOR ALL AND THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY. THEY ARE BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC. CAMBODIA IS PROUD OF THEM!!!!
- THE SECOND GROUP OF READERS ARE MORE OR LESS PATHETIC ABOUT GIVING COMMENTS ABOUT POLITICS IN CAMBODIA: TOO MUCH PASSION OF HATE BECAUSE OF POLITICS AND NOT ENOUGH MATURITY, EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE. THEY MUST LEARN ABOUT THE SOCIAL WAY OF BEING A RESPECTABLE KHMER WITH OUR OWN WAY OF SAVOIR-VIVRE, OF COURTESY AND KINDNESS. PLEASE TRY TO FORGET ABOUT THE NEGATIVE ASPECT OF LIFE ABROAD AND GET MORE IN CONTACT WITH THE PREACHING AND LEARNING OF BUDDHISM. YOU WILL BE MORE RESPECTFUL BY YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY.
IN CONCLUSION, WE AGAIN APOLOGY FOR THE ONE WEEK SURVEY THAT WE CONCLUDED RIGHT NOW.
LONG LIVE TO CAMBODIA AND CAMBODIAN LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE!
STRONG LINKS AND BONDS OF SOLIDARITY BETWEEN KHMER AND KHMER!
MUTUAL RESPECT FOR THE SAKE OF THE MOTHERLAND!
THANK YOU FOR READING US! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO AGREE OR DISAGREE, OR TO INSULT. THIS IS JUST A SURVEY!!!!!!!
To 11:29am
Wow! All are very impressive and superb superb ideas!
Sonemeone like you and Mr. LAO Mong Hay ought to be there right now along the side of our government drafting all the proposals or outlines them to make it work for the country. When that $B arrives, we won't have time and it will be too late.
Everything seems so quiet in the country like nothing will happen, except all that circus going on with The Funcinpec Party.
With our hands put together, we pray that you gentlemen will be sucessful in your ambition or dream in life whatever it may be. In our hearts, we hope that to TURN CAMBODIA AROUND is one of your greatest dream and mission to fullfill.
May God Bless & please know that our sincere appreciation and gratitude are always with you.
Ordinary Khmers
"The Cambodian government had promised donors it would pass an anti-corruption law by the end of 2006, but Hun Sen admitted recently that this target now looked unlikely"
I think the answer to "Anti-Corruption laws" is simple...shot Hun Sen dead and the bill will past like lighting strike.
Alternatively go around and take one member of the Hun Sen family one at a time, will speed up the bill in parlarment...or better yet take down each member of the CPP officials..as they are all corrupted.
Else forget about Anti-corruption bill guys....the oil will "oil" Hun Sen Ass :-)
To 1:05PM
There is a saying. The more you earn the more you spend and this is exactly what poor people do when they have more money! Right now Cambodia is a very poor country and the Cambodian government can’t afford to adopt the mentality of poor people! At the same time Cambodia needs to catch with the rest of the civilize world in the most efficient way with the shortest and fastest time in anyway possible.
The first logical step is to subsidize or invest the most basic need that Cambodian people must have to get back on their feet to live with dignity as human! Now when I use the word subsidize or invest it doesn’t mean that paying people to eat and to sleep all day for the rest of their life. What I meant by the word subsidize or invest is to pay people to become a very useful, productive and very intelligence citizen to be part of Cambodian society!
So for the first 30 years, Cambodian government must invest or subsidize heavily in all field of education (primary, secondary, and university level), job creation, the housing, and the healthcare!
I want to talk about education first because it will create domino effect on all other issues! If the people have the right knowledge, they can do any job!
If Cambodia doesn’t have qualified teachers then hire the best teacher from around the world and give them great pay and retirement benefit and demand result! Cambodian government must understand that people learn thing in different way! Some people learn by talking, some learn touching or hand on, some learn by reading, and some learn by repetition or whatever… the Cambodian government must give Cambodian a choice to pursue their education whether it is public school, public trade school, public college or public university and regardless of age, sex, race, and religion! It seems to me that many private schools, private colleges or universities fail to produce functional Cambodian people to take on responsibility in Cambodian society! Oh well! Why not make the public school and the private school compete for the money from the government! Let hope that the private school or the public school don’t give out answer to the student on the test day due to cutthroat competition! Ahahahahahh
Job creation is also a must because it will make Cambodian people proud of themselves that they can earn money on their own and it bring pride, respect and value to the family and the community! There are many ways to create job with better pay so Cambodian people don’t have to risk their life to go to Thailand and Vietname or any other country just to find a good paying job to support their family!
Affordable healthcare is a must for all Cambodian people! Healthy body and healthy mind will only make a person smarter and stronger!
In grand scheme of things in spending billion and billion of dollars to lift Cambodia out of poverty is very simple if the government understands the real need and fulfills those need for Cambodian people! At the same time, it can become very complicate to solve the poverty in Cambodia because of conflicting or competing interest among Cambodian leadership due to corruption!
Housing, health care, education and job cration are good. But we need to ensure that development is sustainable when the oil runs out, as it will. Quality education will certainly contribute to sustainable development. Investment in productive capacity and production base, such as economic infrastructure such as roads,bridges, railways, irrigation system, industry, energy, farming, etc.. can ensure better sustainable development. Of course there are more forms of productive investment. LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
To: 5:12PM
Yes! When all those basic needs are met than Cambodia are free to pursue all out to advance Cambodian military power(ground, naval, air power) to rival any neigboring country for Cambodia stability, create vast network of spy to oversee Cambodian economic activities, internal and domestic activities or even to overthrow the neighboring government if they continue to act in belligerence manner! And Cambodia will pursue all out in the know how technology in the area of military and civilian use! This is an endless pursue for Cambodia well being...
When I think about Cambodia receiving the 10 billion dollars ayear from the oil revenue is not that much of a money if you factor in the inflation and other issues! How about Cambodia use those 10 billion of dollars to buy gold instead to make Cambodian currency have more value and stable to promote Cambodia economy in scale that you can only dream off! If Cambodia money is highly value,the business people will definitely want to do business in Cambodia and at the same time will bring more investment and more technology to Cambodia!
Why 10 billion dollars is not such a large sum of money because United States spend one billion aday on consumption of gasoline! It cost United State 60-95 billion dollars a year to reconstruct Iraq!
It could cost United States 2 trillion dollars to reconstruct Iraq back to original!
Does Cambodia have any similarity with Iraq after the war? Hell yes!Cambodia is still in the process of reconstruction after 30 years of war!
So to all Cambodian leaders please spend the money wisely! If you don't the next war is just around the corner! Cambodian people know only one that is to experience the living even without nothing to eat! If Cambodia had become the land of the plenty and why not share the plentiful with Cambodian people!
If the Cambodian government carelessly go around throwing money at the problem and not getting result due to corruption then this is war is worth fighting for!
Are you ready?!
Are you ready?!
Are you ready?!
Let get it on!
It's good to think big and one should to do so. Khmer kings though big and built huge monuments. Sandech Sihanouk thought big. General Lon Nol thought big. Pol Pot thought big. Samdech Hun Sen think big. Sometimes one may have to work out wheather one think is doable or achievable and sustainable. Khmer kings failed to sustain their empire and this empire collapsed. Samdech Sihanouk failed. General Lon Nol failed. Pol Pot failed. Even all arab courties failed to defeat Israel. The Soviet Union with its nuclear bombs and a lot of tanks failed. The question is how one can achieve one goal and how to sustain it. It's a question of ways and means and planning, and to secure these ways and means all the times to sustain and add more achievements. In a Khmer folk take, Chau Chak Smok started small with making palm leaf boxes to sell, then bigger and bigger, to become a rich man. But his arrogance when rich failed him. But as Srey Hitopradesh said, who is not arrogant when rich? LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong.
To 3:32PM
There is no mystery to achieve anything whether it is big or small! The key to advance any country or civilization is through some form of stability!
Yes! Khmer King did built many huge monuments through out South East Asia and they have army to protect Cambodia stability! Khmer empire stretched as far as to Malaysia, to India, and to China! Now there are many countries exist within Khmer empire such as Thailand,Loa,Burma,and Vietname! Why! Why! Why! According to history, when the Mongol invaded China,the influxed million and million of the Thai,the Burmese, and the Viet were push into Khmer empire and the Khmer empire may not equip to handle such a large influx of non-Khmer! The worse part is when these new influx of non-Khmer once made their way into Khmer empire and started attacking Khmer empire to carve out new land for their people! Simply put! the Khmer empire was being attacked from all sides! the Viet, the Thai, the Loa, the Burmese and the Malaysian were all attacking Khmer empire! HOw can Khmer empire survive with small population and being attack from all side?! Khmer empire have a short stability and followed with many instabilities and then the decline, decline and more decline...
Yes! Samdech Sihanouk had big plan for Cambodia to make tractor and mordnernize Cambodian cities but the war was going in full swing in neighboring Vietname and the CIA threw him out because he refused to join the war in Vietname! There is no stability in Cambodia during Sihanuok time and beside Cambodia just got her independence!
Yes! Lon Nol had a big plan for Cambodia but he is one corrupted mother fucker! This mother fucker invited the Thai to destroy Cambodian economy! This mother fucker were being attacked from left to right by the Khmer Rouge with help of the Vietcong! There is no stability during Lon Nol time!
Yes! The Khmer Rouge had a big plan for Cambodia. These fucken Khmer Rouge empty the cities and make Cambodian people live on the farm like monkey! The worse part of it all is when they wipe out all the educated Cambodian and Cambodian people in the million and million and let the stupid one take power and lead the country! Monkey lead another monkey and blind lead the blind and this is what become of Cambodia during Khmer Rouge! At the same time, the Vietcong never respect Cambodia sovereignty and started attacking the Khmer Rouge with help of the enemy from within like AH HUN SEN a former Khmer Rouge himself! ahaha
There is no stability in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge!
Oh by the way, Isreal is the land of God and no super power want to see the infidels defeat the people in the land of God!
Yes! Cambodian people can achieve anything whether it is big or small! Just look at the living example of the many great monuments were built by the Khmer empire! To achieve something that is great require intelligence, sacrifice, and total cooperation as ant from all level of Cambodian people!
As far as stupid Cambodian politic goes, the foreigners are allowed to implant their moles and the double agents are allowed to roam free in Cambodia and this is not right! Cambodian people under AH HUN SEN can't even saying anything to protect their nation interest such border issue because the Prey Sar prison is waiting for them! Cambodia is go nowhere and all great plans must be on hold for now until the new leadership take place!
Yes! It is possible to think big and make it a reality and I had seen it with my eyes in Cambodia and not in some foreign land!
The comments above are very interesting. Two things stand out: foreign aggression and internal troubles. Internal conflict resolution mechanisms could prevent and solve internal troubles. These mechamisms could include the rule of law and democracy. The rule of law contribute to sustainability and sustainability could help prevent aggression though the study of developments in neighbouring countries or in the region and preparations to prevent or fight off such any aggression. Let's not forget that at one time at least Cambodia learned from India, but it did better than India. Proof: Cambodia built better and bigger monuments than India had built. Let's not be afraid of copying, but let's do better as Cambodian ancestors had done in the Angkor era. Japan has copied the west since 1868 and has done much better than all western countries except the US. China is currently copying the west also. It is doing well as well. LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong.
Well, I believe an oil bonanza will help improve Cambodia in ways that ruling elite and the mafiosi will rejoice. I think that internal problems of Cambodian politics still revolve around corrupt practices and a low profile of financial probity. Worse,the mafioso behavior of the current regime will be as powerful while natural resource wealth is being devoured by such. Also, political lies are often ignored by the masses. In short, an oil bonanza will mean to me only to scare those corrupt officials into
offering their seniors bigger gifts. I can not imagine this time how big such gifts for these blood suckers will be; it might be the whole life of Cambodians for generations to come. Will be getting poorer and sadder! My beloved, Cambodians, wake up! I am not a mouthpiece for no one and will not be one either, but it is just from my heart and soul as a pure Cambodian with big eyes and wide nose. Don't just be such blind and stone-deaf. Exercise your voice carefully for this upcoming election 2008 for the good of both you and your offspring.
Let's take Mong Hay's idea of copying others to accommodate the optimal Khmer values. I believe we all together are best.
Best
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