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P 230850Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6909
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1488
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 001169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EB/TPP/ABT--THOMAS LERSTEN, DRL/IL--MARK 
MITTELHAUSER, DRL/PHD 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR--BARBARA WEISEL AND DAVID BISBEE 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
LABOR FOR ILAB--JIM SHEA, JONA LAI 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/OTEXA MARIA D'ANDREA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ELAB KTEX EAIR PHUM CB
SUBJECT: GARMENT SECTOR WORRIES TARNISH GOVERNMENT-PRIVATE 
SECTOR LOVE FEST 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  Business leaders and government officials 
touted recent accomplishments in promoting economic 
development during the Private Sector Forum, held June 21. 
Despite predictions of 2.5% economic growth in 2005, 
Cambodia's GDP actually grew by 13.4%, thanks to a bumper 
rice crop and stronger than expected growth in the garment 
sector, tourism, and construction.  Participants detailed 
plans to renovate and reopen the Sihanoukville airport, 
described the expanded banking system, and enumerated other 
areas of progress.  Garment manufacturers' concerns about 
increasing numbers of labor disputes and the lack of progress 
on negotiating nightshift wages were a strong but solitary 
negative note in an otherwise mutually congratulatory event. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  The biannual Private Sector Forum is a plenary cabinet 
meeting open to the business community and broadcast live on 
all Cambodian television stations.  Private sector and 
government co-chairs of seven working groups gave 
presentations on progress made on issues affecting the 
business environment and seized the opportunity of the Prime 
Minister's undivided attention to ask him to make decisions 
on a variety of issues, from the establishment of new 
government bodies to the granting of a concession for an 
acacia plantation. 
 
Recapping an Extraordinary Economic Year 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Finance Minister Keat Chhon and Prime Minister Hun Sen 
opened the forum by describing Cambodia's remarkable economic 
performance in 2005.  Early forecasts for 2005 economic 
growth hovered near 2.5%, due largely to fears that the end 
of textile quotas would have a severe impact on Cambodia's 
garment sector.  In contrast to these dire predictions, the 
garment industry grew by 12.6% in 2005.  Other sectors also 
did quite well, including 17.3% growth in agriculture (thanks 
to terrific weather and a record rice harvest, as well as an 
increase of 11.8% in the fish catch), 19.2% growth in 
construction, and 16% growth in tourism.  Due to these 
impressive growth rates, GDP increased by 13.4% in 2005. 
 
¶4.  Keat Chhon noted that Cambodia's economic growth has been 
slowly accelerating since the formation of the post-UNTAC 
government.  Annual growth averaged 6.3% from 1994 to 1998, 
8.7% from 1999 to 2003, and 11.7% for 2004 and 2005.  Prime 
Minister Hun Sen noted that the government expects much more 
moderate economic growth in 2006--currently projected at 5%. 
The Prime Minister also requested donor and private sector 
support in two key economic development projects:  training 
Cambodian workers and providing raw materials for special 
economic zones, and promoting agricultural exports. 
 
Cambodian Tourist Facilities:  If You Build It, They Will Come 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶5.  Lay Prahos, Minister of Tourism, described ambitious 
plans to expand the lure of Sihanoukville's beaches by 
repairing the city's airport.  Many tourists in Cambodia 
spend just a few days in the country touring the Angkor Wat 
ruins at Siem Reap as part of a longer trip to Thailand or 
other countries.  The tourism sector believes that a flight 
from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville--which would likely take 
about an hour--would lure far more Angkor Wat tourists to the 
beach than the current 9 hour drive.  The Minister expects 
that the Sihanoukville airport renovation project,whose 
contract was recently withdrawn from Ariston Company and 
given to Societe Concessionaire des Airports, will be 
completed by January 2007.  Within ten years, he hopes that 
the runway will be extended to 4,000 meters so that large 
planes can land, eliminating the need for Cambodia-bound 
travelers to transit via neighboring countries.  The Tourism 
Minister also mentioned his ambition for a 4,000 meter-long 
runway in Phnom Penh and small airports in Ratankiri and 
Stung Treng. 
 
¶6.  The Prime Minister exhorted provincial governors to 
promote tourism in their provinces, noting that Cambodia's 
tourism potential is not limited to Phnom Penh, 
Sihanoukville, and Siem Reap.  He noted that domestic tourism 
is an important first step--if Cambodians travel to ruins and 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001169  002 OF 003 
 
 
other tourist attractions safely, then foreign tourists will 
follow.  He also called for Cambodia to replace its 
reputation as a sex tourism destination and instead to become 
known as an eco- and cultural tourism destination only. 
 
Banking Services Expanding 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Charles Vann, private sector co-chair of the finance and 
banking working group, noted that the banking system in 
Cambodia had both improved and expanded in recent years.  The 
National Bank of Cambodia's relicensing process increased 
confidence in the banking system, foreign deposits rose, and 
the loan to deposit ratio increased.  Moreover, banks have 
expanded their reach, both by opening more branches outside 
of major cities and by the introduction of ATMs.  Meanwhile, 
the interest rate for microfinance lending has dropped from 
50% per year five years ago to 25% per year today.  Chea 
Chanto, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, noted that 
Cambodian micro-finance institutions won three out of five 
prizes for financial transparency in a recent worldwide 
competition sponsored by a World Bank-affiliated group, the 
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. 
 
Garment Sector Worried about Labor Problems 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  Van Sou Ieng, Chairman of the Garment Manufacturers 
Association of Cambodia (GMAC), noted that in 2005, garment 
exports topped USD 2.2 billion and accounted for 15% of 
Cambodia's GDP while the garment industry employed 280,000 
workers and indirectly supported 1.5 million people.  He 
credited this growth mainly to the reimposition of US and EU 
safeguards against China, and reported that in the first five 
months of 2006 garment exports have risen 15% over the same 
period last year. 
 
¶9.  However, Van Sou Ieng also warned that unions are scaring 
off buyers due to excessive strikes, 95% of which are 
illegal.  He noted that buyers fear that labor unrest will 
damage their reputations for social responsibility and lead 
to late shipments.  Many buyers are delaying confirming their 
garment sector orders until after July 3, when the Free Trade 
Union and Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association have 
threatened to hold a general strike.  Van Sou Ieng complained 
that garment factories face intense scrutiny under the law 
and factory monitoring programs, while many unions lead 
illegal strikes without penalty.  Moreover, some unions 
prevent willing employees from working during strikes through 
threats, blockaded factory gates, and burning tires near 
factory entrances.  Finally, overly liberal labor laws allow 
small numbers of workers to form unions and then protect the 
three most senior leaders of each factory-level union, 
creating a proliferation of unions and essentially 
undismissable union leaders. 
 
¶10.  The GMAC chairman also lamented that no progress had 
been made on resolving the issue of nightshift wages, an 
issue which has been outstanding for more than two years. 
The Labor Law currently states that any employee working 
between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. must be paid 200% the normal wage. 
 Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh asserted that this was meant 
to apply to overtime work during those hours, but due to 
vague wording also applied to nightshift workers.  Nightshift 
wages in other southeast Asian countries range from 110% to 
130% of normal wages, and Van Sou Ieng and Cham Prasidh 
appealed to the Prime Minister to set nightshift wages at 
130%.  They claimed that this move would encourage factories 
to start a third shift, thereby creating 150,000 jobs. 
(Comment:  This claim, based on every existing factory 
expanding from two to three fully-staffed shifts per day, 
seems exaggerated.  End comment.) 
 
¶11.  The Prime Minister acknowledged the garment sector 
complaints, but said that he couldn't take unilateral action 
to set a nightshift wage or resolve labor complaints.  He 
appealed to both sides to compromise, and appealed to workers 
to "pay attention to your cooking pot," or economic 
interests.  If garment factories close, workers won't get USD 
45 (the current monthly minimum wage), they will get nothing, 
he noted.  At the same time, he remarked that upholding labor 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001169  003 OF 003 
 
 
standards was inherently important:  "Labor standards are not 
about getting exports to the US, they are about upholding 
human rights."  The Prime Minister also said that the same 
labor standards that apply to industry at large need to apply 
to Cambodia's special economic zones. 
 
Hun Sen Takes Aim at His Favorite Targets 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  In addition to his comments about economic matters, Hun 
Sen also used the opportunity of a captive cabinet, 
diplomatic corps, business sector, and television audience to 
take aim at some of his favorite targets of late:  the World 
Bank and United Nations Special Representative for Human 
Rights Yash Ghai.  The Prime Minister described Yash Ghai as 
"ignorant" and decried his willingness to criticize 
Cambodia's human rights record while spending little time in 
country.  Moreover, he said it made little sense for the 
international community to criticize Cambodia for its poor 
human rights record but then ask for Cambodia's assistance in 
persuading Burma to respect the human rights of its people. 
 
¶13.  Hun Sen accused the World Bank of demanding repayment of 
allegedly misappropriated World Bank loans without providing 
sufficient evidence.  Even Saddam Hussein and Slobodan 
Milosevic had a chance to see evidence and defend themselves, 
he noted.  He pledged that the government would protect 
witnesses who came forward, asked companies to pay their 
taxes on time so the government would have the money to repay 
the World Bank, and told the country to prepare for a future 
without foreign aid. 
 
¶14.  COMMENT:  Given 2005's unexpectedly impressive economic 
growth, this year's Private Sector Forum was largely a chance 
for government and business leaders to publicly congratulate 
themselves for a job well-done.  Garment manufacturers' 
worries about labor troubles and the business limitations of 
high nightshift wages were the sole serious concern in an 
otherwise upbeat meeting.  Hun Sen was at his charismatic 
best, benevolently agreeing to common sense proposals while 
taking the high road and refusing to take unilateral action 
on labor disputes, all while using humor to attempt to defuse 
recent criticism from the World Bank and UN Special 
Representative for Human Rights Yash Ghai.  END COMMENT. 
MUSSOMELI