The 8th Study Meeting on Asia
1. Date: June 21, 2011 15:00 – 17:00
2. Venue: Meeting Room, the Takeda Foundation
3. Title: Cambodia and Japan
Speaker: Mr. Juro Chikaraishi, Senior Advisor, Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA)
4. Participants：
01

Juro Chikaraishi

Senior Advisor, JICA

02

Tsuneo Kanazawa

03

Ikuo Takeda

CEO, Excel of Mechatronix.Co
Chairman, the Takeda Foundation

04

MIstuo Akagi

Senior Managing
Foundation

05

Ysuo Tarui

Managing Director, the Takeda Foundation

06

Yuzo Mizobuchi

Director, the Takeda Foundation

07

Norio Ohto

Director, the Takeda Foundation

08

Naoaki Aizaki

Program Officer, the Takeda Foundation

09

Aiko Ubasawa

Program Specialist, the Takeda Foundation

10

Setsufumi Kamuro

Program Specialist, the Takeda Foundation

11

Mototaka Kamoshida

Program Specialist, the Takeda Foundation

12

Emiko Mitsui

Program Officer, the Takeda Foundation

13

TakamiMember, the Takeda Foundation

Director,

theTakeda

5. MemoMr. Chikaraishi was graduated from Waseda University, and joined theInternational Cooperation Agency in 1976. In 1980, he was dispatched to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and worked at the Japanese Embassy inPapua New Guinea. In 1988, he was involved in the transfer of the Grant Aid
Budget from MOFA to JICA at the Economic Cooperation Bureau of MOFA. In
1993, he became Director of Regional Division 3 of the Operations Strategy
Department directing ODA operations in the Middle East, Central Asia, and theformer Soviet Union areas. He served in many important positions including
Deputy Resident Representative of the Philippines Office in 1995, Resident
Representative of the Cambodia Office in 2002, Director General of the Middle
East and Europe Department in 2006, and also Director General of the Office of1Media and Public Relations in 2008. At present, he serves as Senior Advisor to
JICA. Today, he will talk about Cambodia and Japan based on his experience as
Resident Representative of the Cambodia Office.
Rough Sketches of the Kingdom of Cambodia
History and Culture
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam are called CLMV countries. The
CLMV countries have experienced slow economic development, and recently
joined ASEAN far later than the preceding 6 countries of Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Brunei. There are major economic
disparities between the CLMV countries and the preceding 6 countries, andredressing the intra ASEAN economic disparities is a major challenge for JICA
operations in Southeast Asia.
The original country of Cambodia was formed in around the 1st Century. In the
5th Century, Hinduism was introduced to the country, and in the 7th Century,
Buddhism was introduced. In the early half of the 12th Century, the country again
adopted Hinduism and constructed Angkor Wat. After that the major religion haschanged from Hinduism to Buddhism and back again. At present, Cambodia’s
major religion is Buddhism. The history of Cambodia can not be told without
addressing the Khmer Dynasty. In the 13th Century, the Khmer Dynasty
controlled its largest territory including the present Cambodia, the eastern part ofVietnam, Thailand, and the Malaysian Peninsula. The dynasty persisted from the
9th Century to the14th Century, and had a significant cultural influence on
Indochina societies. Thai dances still retain the influence of the Apsara dancesof the Khmer Dynasty. The bars that protrude from the roofs of Thai temples
represent snakes, which seems peculiar for Buddhist temples, but they are
residues of the Hindu influence in the Khmer dynasty. In the14th Century, Siambegan invading Khmer territory, and in 15th Century, the Khmer dynasty gave up
its capital near Angkor Wat, and moved south, relocating its capital near thepresent Phnom Penh. In the18th Century, Champa invaded the dynasty from theVietnam area, and in the19th Century, the territory shrank to the present size of
Cambodia, and Phnom Penh became the formal capital. In 1887, France
colonized Cambodia. For a short period in 1945, the Japanese army occupied
Cambodia, but they were good to the Cambodian people, and, fortunately forboth countries, they did not leave a bad image. The present Prime Minister Hun

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Sen once said that there was no threat of clouds that could interrupt thefriendship between the two countries.
At the time of independence from France, Prince Sihanouk was in power, andhe ruled Cambodia for 17 years. Cambodia was caught in a dilemma between
the two major powers in the Cold War Era, and Prince Sihanouk had a difficult
time steering the country. At that time, the Indochina Peninsula became theplace for a power struggle among the US, Soviet Union, and China and looked
like a powder keg for a major war. Vietnam was in the midst of war as the US
supported the South Vietnam government while the North Vietnam government
was supported by the Soviet Union and China. Prince Sihanouk engaged inequidistance diplomacy, and tried to remain neutral. At that time, North Vietnam
developed the Ho Chi Minh Trail to move arms and soldiers to the Vietnamese
people’s liberation army, and parts of the Trail passed through the Cambodian
territory. The US pressured Sihanouk to shut down the Trail, but he took no
action.
The frustrated US government enabled the CIA to engineer a coup to bring
down Prince Sihanouk who was at that time overseas, and set up a pro-US Lon
Nol government. The Lon Nol government approved the US bombing of the Trailin Cambodia, which triggered the expansion of the war to Cambodia and later to
Laos. The Lon Nol government was a puppet government, and a pro-China
communist group, the Khmer Rouge, which was originally located in the northernpart of Cambodia, expanded its territory, and finally took power in 1975. A leaderof the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, rejected western civilization and culture, anddenied every national law, modern economy, science and technology, art, andreligion. He was trying to follow the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and located allurban residents to villages, and massacred all educated people including
intellectuals, doctors, priests, teachers, and clerks. Under the 5 years of the Pol
Pot regime, about 3 million people, accounting for about one third of theCambodian population, were killed. All leaders in all fields, artists, engineers,scientists, politicians, bankers, clerks, and priests were exterminated leaving alarge black hole of human resources. The black hole of human resources has
been a major obstacle for the development of Cambodia. In 1979, theVietnamese army invaded Cambodia, and set up a pro-Vietnam Phnom Penh
(Heng Samrin) government. Later, a coalition government of Democratic
Kampuchea was formed among the Khmer Rouge, the remnants of Lon Nol
government, and the pro-Sihanouk group, and the civil war continued between

3the Heng Samrin government and the Coalition Parties. In 1991, the Heng
Samrin government and the Coalition parties agreed to a peace treaty, and theParis Peace Agreement was signed by all factions. Cambodia was under thecontrol of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). The
Japanese government helped the Coalition parties agree to the Peace
Agreement, and dispatched Mr. Yasushi Akashi as the head of UNTAC. UNTAC
tried to develop peace in Cambodia from 1992 to 1993, and, for the first time,
Japan sent the Self-Defense Forces to Cambodia for peacekeeping operations.
In 1993, a general election was conducted and Cambodia became aconstitutional monarchy with King Norodom Sihanouk as Head of State.
However, the conflict within the coalition government escalated, and thepro-Sihanouk group was removed from the government, and Hun Sen grabbed
power. Since the era of colonization, the Pro-Sihanouk group had been receiving
preferential treatment, and they had dual nationalities in Cambodia and France.
Once, Hun Sen complained that people of the pro-Sihanouk group could always
leave Cambodia whenever there was a problem, but that Hun Sen’s party
would never leave Cambodia regardless of the situation. Hun Sen gained
popularity and won the general election in both 1996 and 2003. Ever since,
Cambodia has had a stable government
Geographical characteristics
The Mekong River is the defining feature of Indochina geography. It originatesin the Tibetan plateau, and runs through Yunnan Province of China, Myanmar,
Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Its length is 4023km, and the average flow rate is
16000m3/sec. The Mekong River has been providing a wealth of water to
Indochina, and agriculture has developed along its length. In fact, the river has
been sustaining the development of Indochina. Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,
Myanmar, and Thailand established the Mekong River Commission in 1995 toassist in the management and coordinated use of Mekong’ resources. However,China is not a member of the commission, and has been building dams in theupper stream areas in China without the consent of the commission. The
Mekong River is an international river, but international transportation by water is
not available between Laos and Cambodia because of a waterfall at the border.
Laos is a hilly country, but Cambodia is very flat, and international transportation
by water is available downstream.

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In the middle part of the Cambodia plain, there is a very large lake, Tonle Sap,
with an area about 4 times that of Japan’s Lake Biwako during the dry season.
The Tonel Sap River originates Lake Tonle Sap and merges with the MekongRiver near Phnom Penh. During the rainy season, the Mekong River water rises
about 10m higher then during the dry season. At that time, the Mekong River
water flows back through the Tonle Sap River to Lake Tonle Sap, and the lakefloods. The flood area is about 6 times larger than the lake during the dry season.
The surrounding forests are immersed in the flood water, and fish lay eggs on
the branches of immersed trees. Thus, during the rainy season, a wealth of fish
are born. The adjacent fertile plain provides rich nutrients and the Lake Tonle
Sap area nourishes a variety of species, making the lake area a reservoir ofbio-diversity. Floods in Cambodia occur gradually, and do not cause muchhuman suffering; instead the flooding provides various benefits to the
Cambodian people. Countries along the Mekong River share various benefits
and challenges from the river. Thus the river provides a unifying bond among thesurrounding countries.
National Territory and People
The National territory of Cambodia is 181,000 km2, which is about half theterritory of Japan. The population is 14,100,000, and the average territory percapita is 5 times greater than that of Japan. More than 90 % of the people are
Khmer. The GDP per capita is 830 US dollars (Japan: 38,000 US dollars). The
average life expectancy was 62.1 years in 2009. More than 97% of the
population is Buddhist, and 1.9 % is Muslim. Cambodian men are expected toundertake Buddhist training instead of serving in the military. The politicalsystem is a constitutional monarchy with a legislature consisting of upper andlower houses. The major industries are agriculture, which nurtures 70 to 80 % of
the people, light manufacturing including the sewing of shirts and shoes, andtourism. They have rich forest and fishery resources (both fresh water and sea
water fishes). They have sufficient oil and natural gas reserves for business, butthese are still being tested. They have some bauxite and nickel reserves.
Cambodia used to produce gems, but these are now mostly exhausted, because
the Khmer Rouge dug and sold most of the gems when they withdrew near theThai border. The Kingdom of Cambodia adopts an omni-directional foreign
policy and has diplomatic relations with North Korea and Cuba. Cambodia isbasically a democratic country with free trade and economic systems. In 1999,

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Cambodia joined ASEAN as its 10th member, and has been achieving higheconomic growth. Annual growth was 13% when Mr. Chikaraishi was Resident
Representative of the JICA Cambodia Office. The rate of economic growth has
declined a little as a result of the aftereffects of the Lehman crash, but is now
recovered.
The availability of electricity is low, and 91% of local people use firewood forcooking. Elementary school enrollment is 97%, but only 80% of students
graduate. The child mortality rate is 60/1000 (Japan: 3/10000). The main roads
are paved, but, in general, the pavement rate is low, and even 4WD vehicles
have trouble operating during the rainy season. During the civil war, vast
numbers of landmines were buried, but most of them have been removed fromresidential areas. The cost of a landmine was only 50 yen, but it takes 15,000
yen to remove and destroy them. Until recently many people accidentally diedfrom the explosions of blind shells. Warheads can be sold, and people used to
dig up blind shells and sell them. Blind shells tend to explode during attempts toremove the blasting fuse. Now, the buying and selling of warheads is banned,
and the number of accidents has decreased. The Cambodian people are honest,
and the cities are safe. There is a famous tale dating to before the civil war thatshows the honesty of the Cambodian people. Some foreign tourists haveforgotten money on their hotel beds, and have returned later to find all their bills
and coins neatly arranged by category on their beds. Phnom Penh has morethan 30 Japanese restaurants, and it is easy for Japanese to live there.
Cambodia is a beautiful country, and sometime, you should visit.
Japan’s Cooperation with Cambodia
Japan is one of the first nations to have friendly relations with Cambodia since
the establishment of its independence from France in 1953. Since Cambodia is a
kingdom, Japanese imperial family has a long history of friendship with
Cambodia’s royal family, and Japan has a long standing relationship with
Cambodia.
Japan expanded its ODA to Cambodia in 1991. By 2009, Japan has helped
Cambodia with loans of 31.3 billion yen, grants of 138.3 billion yen, and technicalassistance of 55.5 billion yen. Japan has been the largest donor country for
Cambodia. As mentioned before, the Khmer Rouge massacred all leaders,intellectuals, engineers, doctors, and teachers, and so Cambodia had no humanresources to start a new nation when peace was established. Japan focused its

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ODA effort on technical assistance to cope with the black hole of humanresources. JICA assisted young Cambodian leaders to study and gain
experience in Japan, and sent them back to Cambodia where they could teachyounger Cambodian people. JICA repeated this cycle to nurture leaders andcore people in Cambodia. It takes ten years to develop an organization that canmanage itself. For example, JICA helped the Mother-Child Health Center inPhnom Penh to become able to operate effectively by providing and educating
doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. This process took ten years. Another example
is the water system. The water system in Phnom Penh was destroyed during thecivil war, and JICA not only upgraded the water system but also educatedengineers and chemists to be able to maintain the water system. This process
also took 10 years. The water loss in the Phnom Penh water system is now only
5 to 6 %, which is almost equivalent to that of developed countries. Water loss
was about 70% when JICA started its water system project. Japan has been
consistently helping Cambodia, and is deeply respected by the Cambodian
people.
Japan has been the greatest contributing country for Cambodia, but, recently,
China is expanding its economic assistance to Cambodia. When developed
countries help developing countries, they follow certain rules, but China
conducts its operations without consideration of those rules. The Cambodian
people tend to appreciate China’s help, because China helps without demanding
conditions. China quickly starts its assistance operations, but bring all necessary
engineers, labor, and even cooks with them, and do not use local people. Whentheir project is over, all the engineers and labor leave Cambodia, but their cooks
remain and open up Chinese restaurants. It is their strategy to build a local
stronghold in a foreign country. Chinese assistance operations produce
infrastructure, but do not provide money or technical experience to the local
society. Developing countries have started to question China’s assistance
operations.
Question
Do overseas Chinese have any influence in Cambodia?
AnswerCambodia has Chinese communities and Chinese newspapers. Cambodian
Chinese have a profound influence in the business field, but they are not ones

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who came with assistance operations. They came to Cambodia a long time ago,and have assimilated.
Question 2
What happened to the Cambodian Chinese during the civil war?
AnswerCambodian Chinese were also killed. Many Cambodian Chinese fled toThailand. During the Khmer Rouge regime, many millions of refugees were
produced. During the Cultural Revolution in China, the condemned were
forgiven if they criticized themselves. In Cambodia, condemned people were
instantly killed.
Question 3
I have heard that societies in Southeast Asia are quickly aging with decreasing
rates of childbirth. Is it also true in Cambodia?
AnswerMany babies were born after peace was established. Cambodian society isfilled with the younger generations.
Question 5
Cambodia has manufacturing industries?
AnswerSeveral foreign companies are operating in the special economic district, butthere are very few domestic manufacturing companies. Since the US and EU
have given Cambodia most favored nation status, companies in Cambodia canexport goods to those countries without tariffs. Manufacturing companies are
now moving to Cambodia because of rising labor costs and frequent strikes in
China. Recently, we can often see made-in-Cambodia goods in Japan.
Suzuki Motors.Co is producing motorbikes in Cambodia. I have recently heardthat Minerva is also expanding its operations in Cambodia. Cambodian cities arefilled with motorbikes. Japanese motorbikes have a high reputation, but Chinese
bikes are very inexpensive. Used Japanese bikes are more expensive thanbrand new Chinese bikes. Japanese goods are highly trusted. Japanesecompanies usually operate as joint ventures with local companies. The

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Cambodian people like Japanese companies because they try to educate thelocal people. Chinese companies are not well liked because they tend to see
local employees as exchangeable labor units.
Question 5
Is it true that the streets are under water during the rainy season in
Cambodia?
Answer
New roads are built on mounds and roadsides are protected so that the roads
will not be immersed in water during the rainy season. The water level rises by
10m during the rainy season, and many streets are under water. A JICA grant
project has helped to build a river port on a Phnom Penh river. You cannot see
any boats from the platform of the port during the dry season, because the waterlevel is about 10m lower than the platform. During the rainy season, the waterlevel rises, and you can see boats. It’s one of the strangest scenes I ever saw.
Question 6
What about language?
AnswerCambodians speak Khmer, but you can communicate in English as well. Sincemany Japanese visit Cambodia, you can communicate in Japanese in tourist
spots. Cambodia used to be a French colony, and the foreign language course at
Phnom Penh University used to teach French, but it is not popular any more.
English is the most favored foreign language because it is the language used incomputer fields. Around 2003, JICA and the Japan Foundation tried to establish
a Japanese class in Phnom Penh University. It attracted wide attention, andmore than 200 applicants applied for the Japanese class with the capacity of 50
students. On the other hand, a French class attracted only 3 applicants for a 200
capacity class. The French Ambassador blanched to hear that.

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