DIPLOMATS' INTERNSHIP GIVES JAPAN AN EDGE IN CAMBODIA
Date: 23 Nov 2015 Source: Bangkok Post-ASIA FOCUS
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Attribute: สำหรับลูกค้ากลุ่มพิเศษ
Category: กฟภ.และหน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้อง, กฟภ._หน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้อง
By Kyodo News Service in Tokyo
For many Southeast Asian countries, Japanese development aid may be synonymous with building bridges, roads and public facilities. But Japan is not only using its infrastructure-building capacity but also making more use of one of the strategic tools in diplomacy at its disposal: human resource development.
Even as China, another East Asian powerhouse, seems to have increased its economic and political clout in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations in recent years, Japan's modest steps to train local people are showing signs of larger, longer-term potential to deepen relations with Cambodia.
Cambodian diplomats say the Japanese government has "won" the hearts of the local people, thanks to years of its involvement in the development and growth of Cambodia's economic, political and social sectors.
"We are always grateful for the Japanese government's support and assistance in terms of software and hardware such as human resource development and infrastructure," Te Eang Chheng of Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told Kyodo News in a recent interview.
Te, deputy bureau chief of the ministry's General Department of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has been studying since September at Waseda University in Tokyo together with Doeuk Vannarith, also from the ministry.
The two Cambodian diplomats were invited for a short-term internship over the summer holidays - Te with the Japanese Foreign Ministry and Doeuk with the ministry-affiliated think tank known as the Japan Institute of International Affairs, at Cambodia's request.
This kind of programme, under which Japan's diplomatic circles accept Cambodian diplomats, is a first for the two countries.
"Japan was my dream place to pursue my higher education," Te said, praising such diplomat-to-diplomat exchanges as vital for making the working environment between his country and Japan into a bridge for shared understanding about each other's work ethics and views.
"If Japan can have this kind of programme that invites Cambodian government officials to conduct a shortterm internship in a Japanese entity, it will reap practical benefits in the long run as diplomats will know how the other side conducts business and this will help us work more closely," he said.
If not for his time with the Japanese ministry, he said, he would not have acquired new insights into two issues: Japan's ties with the six Mekong countries, comprising his country, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and southern China, and the role of Japan in UN peacekeeping operations.
The peacekeeping issue is of mutual interest to Japan and Cambodia as Japan sent its first peacekeeping mission to Cambodia in 1992.
At the Foreign Ministry's peacekeeping division, Te said he learned for the first time about how Japan's peacekeeping law had placed restrictions on Japanese Self-Defence Forces' operations and how Japan was criticised internationally for its "chequebook diplomacy" - a reference to Tokyo's support for US-led forces during the 1991 Gulf War that took the form of money and not troops.
Through the years, Japan has built a name for itself in Cambodia, thanks to its support in postwar rebuilding efforts after the devastating civil strife of the Khmer Rouge era. Visible reminders of Japanese cooperation include structures such as the Tsubasa Bridge, a 2,200-metre suspension bridge in Neak Loeung, southeast of Phnom Penh.
On top of the "quality infrastructure building" that Japan has been actively promoting in Cambodia and elsewhere in Asia, Te said his country was particularly thankful for Japan's support in reforming his country's electoral process.
"Elections in Cambodia have always been the cause of political unrest and political instability, so Cambodian people do not trust the local electoral system made by ourselves," he aid. "Every election result has been criticised and people put the blame on the system.
"Lacking ICT-supported equipment, Cambodia finds it hard to make accurate and reliable voter registrations and voter lists which are acceptable for all parties."
He noted that Japanese technology provided a way to resolve issues by eliminating or reducing redundant names, adding missing names, and correcting other errors that usually cause unreliable election outcomes.
As the country prepares for its next general election in 2018, a key focus is the credibility of the election outcome. A new election body has been introduced as an entity designed to be "neutral", help end repeated disputes among political parties and prevent the kind of post-election deadlock that followed the 2013 polls won by Prime Minister Hun Sen's party, but with a vastly improved showing by the opposition.
In a recent news conference during his visit to Tokyo, Kem Sokha, a member of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, said he hoped Japan, through its technical assistance, would play a role in ensuring a "fair, free and democratic election" and a "smooth transition of power" sought by the majority of the country's young people.
Carrying hopes that Japanese education and training would help them when they return to Cambodia, the number of funded exchange students from the country to Japan has been increasing. Government data show that since 1992, the number has totalled about 1,000.
Doeuk said he wanted to see more of his compatriots study in Japan and learn from the world's third-largest economy about nation-building. He hopes people from other sectors such as trade, finance and agriculture could go through a similar internship that he has had.
"Human resource development is the utmost important thing we urgently need," Douek said. "It is not just about building roads but training people on how to sustain such roads."
Caption
Cambodian diplomats Doeuk Vannarith (left) and Te Eang Chheng discuss their internship experiences during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo.