Striking a balance between small-state diplomacy and global agenda: is it time?
November 29, 2021
About the author:
Bunthorn Sok, Chief of Bureau of General Department of International Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Lecturer of Economic Diplomacy at the Royal School of Administration of Cambodia
Although Cambodia had enjoyed its annual economic growth rate of around 7% for over decades since 1998, the country’s economy has been ravaged by the looming Covid-19 pandemic since 2020. Its upcoming ASEAN Chairmanship 2022 generates an extra burden to its current endeavors. As a least-developing country (LDC), Cambodia undertakes a careful navigation in its foreign policy through small-state diplomacy. Its adherence to states’ political sovereignty, cultural divergences, and economic interdependence aims for nothing but a global state of harmony and peaceful coexistence. While power politics is presently putting multilateralism at risk, as manifested by WTO functional paralysis, unilateral trade-war measures, climate change conceptualization differences, refugee crisis, terrorism, etc., Cambodia is left with fewer options in its political and economic diplomacy.
Cambodia’s signings of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement in November 2020, and of bilateral Free Trade Agreements with China (CCFTA) in October 2020 and with South Korea (CKFTA) in October 2021 constitute an urgent economic remedy to diminish its suffering incurred from those global crises. However, the country’s political determination is still witnessing prejudice and judgements drawn up by powerful states seeking to indoctrinate their leadership philosophy in Cambodia’s unique context. Moreover, as Cambodia is set to rid itself of the LDC status by 2028, aiming to be an upper middle-income and high-income economy by 2030 and 2050 respectively, the country not only tries to speed up its economic development, but also to strike a balance between its national, context-based development objectives and the global development agenda. Therefore, it needs regional and global supports for its trade integration strategies in terms of more market access for potential goods and services, promotion of human resources of both skilled workers and know-hows, science and technology transfers and innovations for the advancement of medium- and high-end tech, and sustainable development, which includes funding into green-energy development projects such as smart cities, renewable energy plants, and deforestation fighting campaigns, by 2030.
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) hosted by the UK from October 31 to November 13 is of critical importance to Cambodia’s development agenda as the 197 Parties made a positive breakthrough in three key areas of actions: adapting to climate crisis, financing climate-vulnerable developing countries (100 billion USD annually), and mitigating carbon emissions (limiting a rise of average temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius, if not lower). The way of financing, however, shall emphasize transparency and accountability whereby politicization of funding should be avoided and flexibilities for developing countries accorded. The environmental measures for developing countries should not constitute a barrier to their critically needed development spaces, including promoting investments and external trades and creating more job opportunities for their peoples, therefore contributing to raising their living standards. This purpose was also highly underscored in the Marrakesh Agreement 1995 (preamble clause, para 1) and the GATT 1947 (Art. XXXVI), among others. As climate change is borderless, so is the Covid-19 pandemic. Joint global efforts are critically imperative to ascertain the respect of rights to life of peoples around the world, not of a few developed nations.
This article is from the November issue of TI Observer (TIO), which is a monthly publication devoted to bringing China and the rest of the world closer together by facilitating mutual understanding and promoting exchanges of views. If you are interested in knowing more about the November issue, please click here:
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