Economic Thrust Eastwards

Hun Xen embraces Nguyen Tan Dung, meanwhile....
Villagers from the beseiged Kraya commune in Kampong Thom province say they have been forced to hide in cassava fields for fear of arrest and now face increasing health risks from a lack of medicine and the threat of malaria from sleeping outdoors. Authorities blockaded the commune following a violent protest last month over their impending eviction, during which equipment belonging to the Vietnamese-owned rubber company Tin Bean was set on fire (Photo by: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post)

Alternatives Watch – 30xi09
Op-Ed by Ung Bun Ang
Almost three decades after sending its troop into Cambodia, which has since paid dividends so handsomely, Vietnam makes another strategic move that will have far-reaching implications for Cambodia. This year sees a thrust of Vietnamese investments that reaches a total of US$1.5 billion in Cambodian vital sectors: land, natural resources, and telecommunications.

Vietnam has secured the right to exploit in Block 15 – a 6,900 square km site off the northeastern shore of Tonle Sap – oil reserves for the next 30 years, and gas reserves for 35 years. It holds 100 percent interest in the venture giving Cambodia only an option to obtain later a share of up to a mere 5 percent. Meanwhile, to sweeten the deal, Vietnam presents to Cambodia a “social benefit fund” of US$2 million. There is no mention of how they will address inevitable environmental damages.

Back on land, Vietnam is to develop 100,000 hectares of rubber plantations in five Cambodian provinces to be completed in 2015. These involve land concessions that last almost 100 years – long enough for any land located close to the border to inconspicuously become part of Vietnam. The development has already led to a violent clash with local villagers; more than one thousand families live on the land that is now part of an 8,000 hectare land concession belonging to Vietnamese plantation firm Tin Bien.

Vietnam is shrewd in managing its own forests; it protects them and develops its economy by exporting its deforestation to Cambodia. Cambodia has become a major source of supplies of illegally logged wood to help fill a substantial hole left in Vietnam’s local lumber supply after the government implemented reforestation policies in the 90’s.

Vietnam sets itself up to control a significant chunk of the Cambodian telecommunication network. Vietnamese military-run telecommunication corporation Viettel is now the largest telecommunication service provider in Cambodia – six months after launching its Metfone mobile service network. Metfone currently accounts for 60 percent of all ADSL internet services and 50 percent of the fixed phone market; it has two million mobile subscribers. Vietnam claims its satellite system Vinasat-1, with its coverage over the Southeast Asia, can meet all the Cambodian needs ranging from television to internet. The sweetener is the Viettel’s donation of US$500,000 to help poor Cambodian children in need of medical treatments; it promises to provide internet services to 300 Cambodian schools this year. Vietnam agrees to help build a radio station in Siem Reap the Cambodian government claims it needs to give the local Vietnamese community a better access to information. With these benefits, Cambodia puts its national security that links to its communication network at the mercy of Vietnam.

The economic thrust eastwards will, first and foremost, benefit Vietnam. Cambodia will also gain; but the extent and nature of long term costs will be unknown for some time. Meanwhile, the thrust will divide Cambodian opinions, just like the Vietnamese military intervention and occupation of Cambodia. The combined impact of the two major Vietnamese strategies could only weaken Cambodia.