Yonwoo's Gold Tower 42 does not bring much benefit to Cambodia's poorBy Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
06 May 2008
More than a decade of strong ties between Cambodia and South Korean have meant a boon to economic development, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday.
“Now, after 11 years, diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea are remarkably developed,” he said, speaking at the inauguration of a construction project on National Road 3, which is being financed through a Korean grant.
South Korea is at the forefront of at least eight sectors, he said, including investment and tourism. He also pointed to the construction of Gold Tower 42, a proposed skyscraper scheduled to be constructed in Phnom Penh by 2011, as a sign of strong investment.
“Soon, construction of a building of 42 floors will be invested by the Koreans, and there will be another 55 floors,” he said.
South Korea has invested in building construction, information technology, aviation, tourism and textile. Investment worth $152 billion came for the country in 2007, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia.
But opposition officials cautioned against measuring Cambodia’s worth only in investment. Mu Sochua, deputy secretary of the Sam Rainsy Party, said that not even Korean investment had brought much to the nation’s poor.
“Now, after 11 years, diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea are remarkably developed,” he said, speaking at the inauguration of a construction project on National Road 3, which is being financed through a Korean grant.
South Korea is at the forefront of at least eight sectors, he said, including investment and tourism. He also pointed to the construction of Gold Tower 42, a proposed skyscraper scheduled to be constructed in Phnom Penh by 2011, as a sign of strong investment.
“Soon, construction of a building of 42 floors will be invested by the Koreans, and there will be another 55 floors,” he said.
South Korea has invested in building construction, information technology, aviation, tourism and textile. Investment worth $152 billion came for the country in 2007, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia.
But opposition officials cautioned against measuring Cambodia’s worth only in investment. Mu Sochua, deputy secretary of the Sam Rainsy Party, said that not even Korean investment had brought much to the nation’s poor.
12 comments:
what! are you saying you want everybody in cambodia to be poor and to stay poor forever? someone got to start somewhere. naturally in the business world, only the one who is willing to take some risk prosper or reap the long-term benefits the most; so if you are the kind that wanted to sit and wait and are afraid to take some risks, then step aside and allow those who are for real and who are very willing do it. and stop the bitching and whining and complaining because one thing that can't be recycled is wasted time; ideas won't work unless someone do the action. it's getting old! so stop your bitching and get to work. thank you.
a heart:
a sharp tongue can cut my own throat. if i want my dreams to come true, i mustn't oversleep. of all the things i wear, my expression is the most important. the best vitamin for making friends is B1. the happiness of my life depends on the quality of my thoughts. the heaviest thing i can carry is a grudge. one thing i can give and still keep is my word. i lie the loudest when i lie to myself. if i lack the courage to start, i have already finished. one thing i can't recycle is wasted time. ideas won't work unless i do. my mind is like a parachute, it functions only when open. the 10 commandments are not a multiple choice. the pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime! it is never too late to become what i night have been. life is too short to wake up with regrets. so love the people who treat you right. forget about the one's who don't. believe everything happens for a reason. if you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. if it changes your life, let it. nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. friends are like balloons; once you let them go, you might not get them back. sometimes we get so busy with our own lives and problems that we may not even notice that we've let them fly away. sometimes we are so caught up in who's right and who's wrong that we forget what's right and wrong. sometimes we just don't realize what real friendship means until it is too late. i don't want to let that happen so i'm gonna tie you to my heart so i never lose you. relay this message to all your friends including your enemies and see how many you get back. even send it to your balloons that you think have flown away forever. you may be surprised to see it return. relay this heart to everybody you like. forgiveness! god bless cambodia.
I strongly urge the individual who made the first comment to apply logic to his/her argument next time.
This issue here is not about risks but priorities.
There is no doubt that S. Korea have done a great deal to develop Cambodia, but Gold Tower 42 is not a priority. There are millions still living in poverty and the priorities ought to be fixing the roads, building schools, hospitals, and attracting foreign businesses.
There is no doubt that some of those billions are going into the pockets and foreign bank accounts of corrupt officials. Even a blind man can see that!
I surely do not want crippling poverty to persist and the only way to advance is to have competent leadership devise a plan to end this terrible practice of "serving me, before others". There has been no discussion from current authorities of resolving this matter. Rather, all is fine and perfect in the eyes (or I should say eye) of Hun Sen.
The bottomline is that nothing is being done to address the issue of poverty. The answer is to concentrate the national budget on povery alleviation in the form of investments in infrastructure. The old argument is that Cambodia is a poor country. I'd argue for all those government officials to "empty their pockets!" Where are the billions in donor money?
korean ,they are not fool around with their money in cambodia .HUN SEN 's administration like to nip from their investment .it caused a group of Hun 's profittaker
No foreign investments nor domestic ones have ever brought anything to the Cambodian poor. Only the crooked rich benefit from them. I folks don't me, just ask Cham Praseth, Sok An, Hun Xen, and Hok Lundy, etc. They never lie to you.
correction:
I folks don't me= I folks don't believe me,
$152 billions? worth of investment in 2007? in Billions or is it a miss spelled?
Beware of neo-colonialists! They can come from everywhere around the world. Rulers of poor countries and their business cronies are mostly their compradores. Their investment can have some trickle down effects on our poor fellow Cambodians.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Well, tell that to these freaking Viet parasites and prowlers here on KI-Media Dr. Lao!
Yes, we all know the world isn't perfect, Dr Lao, but most investments will benefit Cambodia in the long run.
For information:
Korean tourists came to Cambodia with their own tour guides,the korean speaking Khmer tour guides are allowed to be with them, but were ordered to shut up. They eat and stay in their own Korean restaurants and hotels... A korean tourist thrown two dollars for a 4 dollars price gift at Banteay Srey, ran to the buss and left. The poor Khmer girl gifts seller cried helpless, she lost one dollar and a haft on the forced sale...A Khmer man working in a hair saloon refused to cut hair for a korean man and kicked him out.He said he hate them...
Khmer girls married to Koreans men are getting severely abused in Korea. And because of the abusing cases happening in Korea, the government issued law that prohibits Khmer women from getting married to all foreigners(?)!
Koreans come to Cambodia not to help Cambodians, but to make money to bring back to their home land.
I am not opposing the Korean investments in Cambodia but the government should not take advantage of this and forget about it inconveniences, especially the interest of their own poor people...Don't forget this: We all get born with nothing with us and will go back with nothing with us. Even your tomb will be removed one day because your descendants need to sell that piece of land.
Don't be blind by money!
no favor for anyone special group of people, if they are found to be violating and abusing the local law, i'm sure they will be held accountable just like everybody else. that's why, you don't just go to a foreign country and respect their laws, you will be jailed or fined for that matter and even deported. i don't think anyone with this kind of mentality can get away; and i hate to say this but in cambodia if the police did not come in time to rescue such criminal acts, the mob will probably lynched already. got to respect the law, people!
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