Q1/ As the Minister of Information you are responsible for the management of the press in the country. But before getting into the heart of the subject, could you give us a brief introduction to your country; the Kingdom of Cambodia

A1/ I would like to underline presenting Cambodia that we have plenty of resources. To give you some examples;

In the underground, we have gold, rubies and sapphires. Our rubies are very famous in Pailin province. They have been exported for over a hundred years already, but we still have plenty more places that can be mined. We have plenty of other mineral resources such as marble and others that are nowadays under exploited.

Coming from our land we also have important possibilities in the agricultural sector. My uncle had a rubber plantation in the sixties, when Cambodia was number seven in the world in exportation; in the old times. We are still producing rubber but there is plenty of room for people who is interested. We also have palm trees; the population of palm trees so far reaches 6.5 million trees. Each tree provides about 320 liters of juice per season. The sweetness of this juice is as sugarcane juice. Now talking about its use; if we were to put it into a 330 ml can, each tree would fill 1000 cans, you multiply it by 6.5 million trees and get the potentialities. Now considering that if each tree can cost around 10 cents we can make over 600 million dollars already from processing the juice. But we can also use the leaves for all the traditional handcrafts. And it still remains the fruit… In the old times we use to make sugar. I used to run a sugar refinery in Cambodia that's why I know it very well. I guess, I'm talking also about the development of an agro-industry, which is also very important. That way we could think about exporting, as the garment factories already do, is very suitable for our country and we need to reduce the bill of products imported, especially food.

Last but not least I would like to underline the potentialities of the tourism sector in Cambodia. The number of visitors is growing and we expect that by 2020 we will get up to 5 million tourists into Cambodia. We have hundreds of temples; big ones like Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Bantei Serei but also hundreds more of small and medium size that can attract different kind of tourists. Not mentioning the future development of Sea tourism in Sihanoukville and Eco tourism in the eastern part of the country. There is in this sector as well, plenty of potentialities.

So with all these potentialities, if we manage them right, it should bring not less than 2 billion dollars a year for Cambodia. So why should we need to ask or beg other countries for money every year? We've been beggars for a very long time, due essentially to the past events of the country, and one day we must stop begging. We must turn from beggar to producer. This country has a lot of opportunities. And, I'm optimistic that Cambodia will become economically healthy.

Q2/ How has been developing the press since the rebirth of a democratic regime?

A2/ You see in this country the press is very young. It started in 1993. They don't always have the skills to write. Living with this kind of society is very difficult. You ask permission to run a press; then you write something that is not professional. What is good is that even if the press is not professional, you have to take into consideration that the readership is not either, so they are very suitable one to the other. So far we are getting more freedom of press, but we still need to control if they remain professional and ethic. Having just recovered from being a communist country, but still having some communist ideology all over the country, we struggle through this process. Nevertheless I think we can be satisfied by the evolution of the past year and we will keep on working on this direction. We want to archive full freedom of press but of a professional and responsible one.

Q3/ Which are the main policies of your Ministry in order to increment the quality of the press?

A3/ First, we have increased the level of our schools; which is a basic requirement for the evolution of the country in a whole. Then we also have special courses at the University. Lately, we also developed training centers that propose courses of 3 or 6 months. We get for all this programs a lot of assistance from foreign countries such as Japan and Canada. We thank them a lot for their support. Comparing 1993 with nowadays we can notice the difference. The press as a whole is getting better, much better and this means we can be positive for its future.

Q4/ How many media companies are registered in Cambodia?

A4/ We have nowadays about 220 press, magazines and bulletins. Among these 46 are foreign media companies. We have also 22 FM stations, and 7 TV stations in town. If we talk about the Internet, than I can't really tell you, we are completely lost because we do not control the expansion of the cyberspace. In that sense I cannot give you updated statistics. Internet, in fact, is used all over the world, with one click you see everything; it is through this channel that our country is opening more and more.

Q5/. What are the main goals and objectives of your Ministry?

A5/ The Ministry of Information, services everywhere. We must find all relevant information and provide this information to the government. We can also make some suggestion but usually our role is to be the link between the government and our people. I would like nevertheless to see the role of this ministry extended. We should be present everywhere, even in the most remote areas of the country. Send all the information gathered to a center that would be linked to the main ministries. From the social and economical point of view we should analyze this information, and take decisions and actions. This is my intention, or my dream as for the moment we cannot do it because I have very different ideas not always shared.

Q6/ In the global economy we are living in nowadays, you have already underlined it with the Internet, information runs around in 24 hours. In this sense are you playing a role in the promotion of Cambodia to the international community?

A6/ Of course, everyone has to participate. We settle for instance our TVK link through satellite. As a result Cambodian TV can be viewed from 126 countries in this hemisphere. Then we also promote the Internet as I told you, the websites for instance which are a valuable tool to communicate. The quality is still poor, but we will improve. For our ministry the television remains the best channel of communication; being on satellite we can inform all our people, even abroad.

Q7/. What would be your final message to foreign investors willing to come or interested in Cambodia?

A7/ There are good opportunities! The problem lies in getting in contact with the right person, because otherwise it is the best way to be discouraged. I used to be the Deputy Minister of Commerce and I think we have to sell our products. Foreign investors can help us with know-how, technology and even with capitals. It is a win-win situation, even if the Cambodian market is not enough for their production, we have a strategic position in south East Asia that allows them to approach other markets from here. There are plenty of opportunities and together I think we can do it.

They also have to be aware that, living in Cambodia, you have to go with the shape of the river. Never act as if you were smarter than anyone else. Working here is not easy; people are not very well educated. Nevertheless our people is volunteer, they aim to learn and to progress; they just need time.