Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced in late March that the nation was on target to move from the status of a low-income to a lower-middle-income nation by the end of 2013, ranking it the 15th country that obtained high economic growth in the world in the last 10 years.

An owner of a small sundries shop in Kampong Chhnang in Central Cambodia. Small businesses like this one serve as the backbone of the country’s sustainable economy. Photo/Karl Grobl

However, the global economic crisis has had an adverse impact on the Cambodian economy since the end of 2008. In 2009, Cambodia’s growth hit the lowest level (2%) experienced in the last 15 years. The real GDP growth has started to pick up since 2010 and 2011, with 3.0 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively. According to the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Energy, the industrial sector, which includes the agricultural, tourism, garment, and mineral industries, shared 30 percent of the GDP, up 6 percent from the past 18 years.

Historically, however, Cambodia has relied on the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the backbone of a sustainable economy. Generally in Cambodia when we talk about SME economic activities, we are in fact talking about micro-small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), as out of the more than 500,000 economic establishments or enterprises counted in the 2011 Cambodia Economic Census, some 493,000 of them employ only one to 10 employees.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said in June 2010 when he announced the Rectangular Strategy Phase II, Cambodia’s main socio-economic policy agenda for the Fourth Legislature of the National Assembly (2008-2013), that SMEs are one of the angles of the strategy which government is committed to promoting.

Growth in the number of MSMEs could help expand the economy, create more jobs, facilitate Foreign Direct Investment, and enlarge the tax collection base. The 2011 census shows that more than 500,000 economic establishments were engaged in economic activities, employing more than 1.6 million laborers or approximately 20 percent of the total Cambodian labor force.

The best way to boost MSMEs is to encourage private sector development and support their expansion. Micro enterprises, mainly in the provinces, have the potential to grow to become small- medium-sized enterprise. However, this growth may not be realized if there are too many constraints.

For almost 10 years, The Asia Foundation has been working with MSMEs in Cambodia to help create a more productive, enabling environment at the provincial level; advocating for an improved business environment; improving the ability of Cambodia’s provincial MSMEs to compete in regional and world markets; and increasing the understanding of the benefits of MSME development in the local economy. Through different program activities such as subnational dialogues between public and private actors, surveys, and researches on impediments to growth, we found that constraints include lack of access to information, unclear and burdensome regulations, poor relationships with public authorities, lack of technological capacity in production, and most importantly, limited access to financing for business expansion. Despite these challenges, there have been a large number of new enterprises that opened their doors for business recently. Findings show that from 2009 to 2011, 34 percent of all total establishments had just started their business in those two years.

According to the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), around 72 percent of Cambodian enterprises are family-run businesses with one to three employees (2009). Out of 505,134 enterprises, only 3.5 percent were registered at the Ministry of Commerce in 2011. This means that the majority of enterprises are in the informal sector, effectively preventing them from accessing finance because banks and monetary financial institutions require SMEs to have legal status to be eligible to apply for a loan. As a result, SMEs rely on personal savings and informal sources for starting up or expanding their businesses. The primary reason for SMEs maintaining their informal status is the perception that standard accounting practices are complicated and unnecessary. Additionally, some SMEs prefer to keep informal financial records because it allows them to conceal their real profits and revenues from tax authorities.

Although there are policies in place, implementation still has a long way to go. Cambodia’s government should play an active role in connecting SMEs to the export sector by providing incentives to export firms to find local partners; benchmarking certain standards or priority areas for export growth; providing market, management and technical consultancy; and enhancing awareness of local SMEs to suppliers through tour organizing, workshops, or seminars. To reach its lower-middle income status and beyond, Cambodia’s small businesses must be given a fair environment to reach their full potential and grow.

The Asia Foundation’s work with SMEs in Cambodia is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Australian Agency for International Development, New Zealand Aid Programme, and the Danish International Development Agency.

Khut Inserey is The Asia Foundation’s senior program officer in Cambodia. He can be reached at ikhut@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

Late last month, gunmen opened fire on a mayor of a town campaigning for local elections, killing 12 people including his daughter, in what has been the bloodiest attack ever in the Philippines ahead of midterm elections which are scheduled for May 13. Local officials declared the attack to have been motivated by rido, clan violence that continues to plague the southern region of Mindanao, and typically worsens during election periods.

Rido is a Maranao term that is commonly used in Mindanao to refer to clan feuds. The causes of rido vary from petty offenses to more serious crimes. In most cases, political rivalries matched with proliferation of firearms, weak law enforcement, and an inefficient justice system elicit the prevalence of rido in conflict-affected areas. The viciousness of this conflict is characterized by large-scale family involvement in repetitive killings that may span a long period of time. Rido threatens not only the security of the clans but also the safety of the communities that are trapped within the borders of the conflicting families. For instance, apart from the random killings waged by conflicting parties that can sometimes include innocent civilians as casualties, burning of houses and public properties may also form part in the series of retaliatory acts, causing massive internal displacement.

The Asia Foundation conducted a pioneering study that demystified the pervasiveness and viciousness of rido in the lives of ordinary people in several communities in Mindanao. This study has served over the years as a starting point for a variety of initiatives that facilitated the settlements of more than 200 rido cases all over Mindanao. In Lanao provinces alone, the Foundation has helped to mitigate and/or resolve some 40 rido cases since 2010.

Since 2011, through the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development Program Partnership Arrangement with the Foundation, we have had the opportunity to expand this effort and work directly with security forces to underpin peace in conflict-affected areas in the Southern Philippines. Deep-seated distrust shaped by hostile histories of armed intercessions has fuelled tensions between communities and security forces and induced the risk of violent conflicts at the local level.

In September 2012, the Foundation began supporting Community Relations Training (CRT) in Lanao del Sur province, where much of our success in conflict mitigation and rido resolution efforts have indicated very ripe opportunities for collaborative partnerships among community leaders, civil society, the police, and the Philippine Army to improve local security. The CRT is a localized concept, which was originally developed by the Philippine Marines, civil society, academe, and civilians in Sulu to build and strengthen their relations and work more smoothly together in their peacebuilding efforts. CRT has also been conducted and replicated in Lantawan, Basilan with the Civilian Active Auxilliary of Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) as participants together with the junior cadres of the Philippine Army.

Above, security forces and community members participate in a Community Relations Training course, which aims to break the cycle of further alienation in relationships between the two groups in Mindanao.

CRT course topics range from discussing the history of practices or traditions of local people, the principal values on community engagement and collaboration as perceived by the locals, and the perspective of the security forces on community relations. The training is flexible, rather than prescriptive, so it can include other topics that are critical to a particular security setting. Founded on mutual respect and understanding, the underlying concept for this initiative is to restore communication and develop harmonious relationships between community and security forces, so that they can cultivate trust over time.

The focus of the CRT in Lanao is on the Municipality of Piagapo, which was selected due to intermittent documented clashes between the communities and the security forces, particularly with the Philippine Army. Piagapo is also believed to be the hiding place of criminal groups that are involved in robbery, kidnap-for-ransom, and car theft in other areas in the province. This reputation has further isolated the communities in Piagapo, which has made it more difficult for security forces to capture lawless groups.  There are certain protocols that must be followed by the military and police as they try to isolate and interdict criminals that take refuge in or near Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) communities. The Municipality of Piagapo is a recognized territory of the MILF, in which the conduct of military operation associated with internal security are guided by certain set of rules that are have been agreed by the MILF and government within the current peace process.

On April 29, 2013, 60 participants of the CRT, composed of community leaders (some of whom are members or sympathizers of the MILF), Philippine Army, and police officers who are deployed in the Municipality of Piagapo and its neighboring areas, attended the graduation ceremony after completing the five-day training on community relations.  The CRT course was put together by a team of lecturers from the academe, civil society, religious sector, Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the MILF to ensure more context-sensitive and people-focused training program. Topics included concepts related to Maranao tradition and culture, Islamic society, community organizing, Maranao traditional conflict resolution processes, the peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF, the new Internal Peace and Security Plan of the AFP, and the Philippine National Police Community Relations Program.

Through continuous and constant dialogues and engagement, the Community Relations Training courses aim to break the cycle of further alienation in relationships between communities and security forces in Mindanao. In anticipation of May 2013 national polls, when Lanao del Sur will be placed on the election “watch list” due to its propensity for election-related violence, CRT provides opportunities for security forces and communities to create a secure environment for a smooth, and hopefully, peaceful election process in the Municipality of Piagapo.

Haironesah Domado is The Asia Foundation’s assistant program officer in the Philippines. She can be reached at hyro@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

Eastwood City in Metro Manila came alive on May 7 as top bands and artists came together, in front of some 200 persons with disabilities (PWDs) and more than a thousand fans for a free concert to encourage and inspire the audience to go out and vote in the upcoming midterm elections on May 13 to cast votes for 18,053 positions (from Senator on down to municipal councilor) up for election nationwide.

PWD band Long Time No See performs at Rock for a Fully Abled Nation to help encourage PWDs to go out and vote on May 13.

Dubbed “Rock for a Fully Abled Nation,” DAKILA, in partnership with Locked Down Productions, Megaworld, Eastwood City, and Jam 88.3 organized the concert. The concert is one of the projects and activities under the Disability-Inclusive Elections program popularly known as Fully Abled Nation or FAN, implemented by The Asia Foundation as part of Australian Aid’s program on Disability-Inclusive Development.

Thousands danced and sang along to hit songs of multi-award winning bands like Up Dharma Down, Kamikazee, Malay, Franco, Soapdish, Maude, Pulso, Turpitude, and Miko Pepito. PWD bands Righteous One and Long Time No See also gave rousing numbers. Sign language interpreters were available for deaf audience members.

In the Philippines, there is no precise and official number of PWDs and PWD voters that can be relied on by government agencies and even disability peoples organizations (DPOs). Most sources use estimates from World Report on Disability conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank that says 15 percent of the country’s population are PWDs. With the 2010 population pegged at 94,349,600, PWDs are estimated to be around 14 million.

Based on the “People’s Evaluation of the May 2010 Philippine Automated Elections of Social Weather Stations (SWS)” February to June 2010 Surveys, 46 percent of the 435 projected households with PWD members had members that were not able to vote because of their disability, mobility constraints, and lack of reasonable accommodation for PWD voters. An additional 409,000 projected households have PWD members who are not registered voters.

These sobering findings became the jump-off points where The Asia Foundation based its disability-inclusive program.

Over the last two years, The Asia Foundation, with support from The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), has been in the forefront of driving better participation in the upcoming elections through the Fully Abled Nation (FAN) initiative, a disability-inclusive elections program that increases participation of PWDs in the May 2013 elections and other democratic processes. After an intensive voter registration and education campaign, over 400,000 PWDs are now eligible to vote.

While this is certainly good progress, the urgency now – just five days away from elections – is to make sure that PWDs actually go to vote on Election Day. With every band sharing their personal experiences with PWDs, the concert amplified the call for greater awareness of PWDs’ right to suffrage, and encouraged everyone to be part of the collective voices of artists, advocates, and volunteers to ensure a disability-inclusive May 2013 elections. Video clips and photos gathered over the past two years of implementing the Fully Abled Nation initiative were also shown.

Just like everyone, people with disabilities need a little push to fulfill their right and responsibility to be able to cast their vote. The government, civil society sector, and organizations for the disabled have been working hand-in-hand to make sure that the upcoming elections would be sensitive to the needs of the vulnerable sector including PWDs. Let’s hope this plays out on May 13, and that their voices are heard by casting their vote.

Follow #FullyAbledNation on Twitter for updates in the lead-up to the election.

Emil Tapnio is an assistant program officer for The Asia Foundation in the Philippines. He can be reached at etapnio@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

Just months before Mongolia prepares for its 6th Presidential Elections on June 26, the capital, Ulaanbaatar, hosted thousands of delegates from over 100 countries for the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies. Among the impressive list of influential guests, Nobel laureate and elected parliamentarian of Burma/Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, drew one of the biggest crowds.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj deliver a public lecture, with more than 800 people gathered in the Great Hall of State Palace for the event. Photo/president.mn

After the Ministerial Conference, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stayed for a few more days in Mongolia to share with citizens, including civil society representatives and human rights activists, the experience of democracy in Burma versus in Mongolia, the country of her “ancestors,” as she warmly noted several times during her time here. The highlight of her visit was the joint public lecture, “Mongolia and Myanmar: Path to Democracy and Freedom,” delivered on April 30 together with Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj. More than 800 people gathered in the Great Hall of State Palace for the event, organized especially for Mongolian youth by the NGO, Globe International, and the Oluulaa Club, and the full lecture was broadcasted live throughout the country. With no seats left, the audience was in high spirits during the two-hour event in which both President Elbegdorj and Aung San Suu Kyi shared their thoughts on democracy, freedom, and achieving change through non-violent means. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi specifically directed her message to the Mongolian youth, encouraging them to exercise their right to vote, while reminding everyone that “voting for free and fair elections is a precious right to preserve.”

She also told the audience that while pursuing democracy, one should always keep a healthy balance between freedom and security as the essential elements of democracy: “we are responsible not only for our freedom and security, but also for the freedom and security of others.” She described Burma’s long path to democracy as not an easy one, full of hurdles to overcome and frustrations to cope with, leaving behind wounds that will take time to heal albeit less time than if a less peaceful road would have been chosen.

Afterwards, many of the young members of the audience commented on how they found her speech to be “simple, profound, and down to earth.” As they said, usually when Mongolians talk about democracy, they tend to use very complicated words, blurring the real meaning of the word “democracy.” One of our Asia Foundation colleagues noted that listening to her simple, yet wise message reminded the Mongolian audience of the very essence and importance of democracy that Mongolia has gained not so long ago, close to the beginning of a new century.

The Asia Foundation was the first international non-profit organization to be invited into Mongolia following the democratic transition in 1990. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Foundation in Mongolia since it opened its office on October 1, 1993.

The following Asia Foundation staff in Mongolia contributed to this article: Naran Munkhbat, Ariunaa Norovsambuu, Gantulga Yonkhor, Chinkhand Dorj, Solongo Otgonbayar, and Batmunkh Batdelger. They can be reached at naran@asiafound.org, ariunaa@asiafound.org, gantulga.y@asiafound.org, chinkhand@asiafound.org, solongo@asiafound.org, and batmunkh@asiafound.org, respectively. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual authors and not those of The Asia Foundation.

Against the background of Mongolia’s famous blue sky, around 1,215 delegates from 104 countries gathered in Ulaanbaatar to participate in the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies (CD) from April 27- 29, 2013, organized under Mongolia’s Presidency of the CD, which started in July 2011.

1,215 delegates from 104 countries gathered in Ulaanbaatar to participate in the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies. Photo/Tenzing Paljor

After an opening ceremony on April 27 led by Mongolian Prime Minister N. Altankhuyag, who highlighted the country’s democratic achievements and a group picture in front of the Chinggis Khaan statue at Sukhbaatar square, participants broke off to attend the fora of the five CD pillars: Civil Society, Youth, Parliamentary, Women, and Business. The Asia Foundation, through the USAID-funded “Supporting Mongolia’s Presidency of the Community of Democracies” Project, provided assistance to both the Parliamentary and Women’s forums.

At the joint meeting on the final day, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, President Tsakhia Elbegdorj spoke of his country’s long road to democracy as well as how new democratic practices such as direct democracy and citizen participation increasingly are gaining momentum in Mongolia. He reiterated Mongolia’s role as a friend and its willingness to assist other countries that are transitioning to democracy. Thailand’s Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, spoke about the democratic struggles that her country has undergone and emphasized that these are not yet over, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her gratitude for the support of the international community to the people of Burma in their fight for democracy, emphasizing that Burma has made the choice to transition towards democracy but still has a long way to go to become a full-fledged democracy. She also reminded that democracy brings with it not only rights, but also responsibilities and should be seen as a continuous learning process. She was later presented with the Geremek award in remembrance of the late Professor Bronislaw Geremek, one of the co-founders of the CD. Other speakers included Nobel Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman from Yemen, UN Under-Secretary General, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Bill Burns, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security, Baroness Catherine Ashton, and the Vice President of Nigeria, Namadi Sambo.

During a plenary session on “Threats against Civil Society and Freedom of Expression,” several speakers outlined the worrisome trend by which many governments around the world are imposing restrictions on civil society and the use of internet. Parallel thematic sessions were held on “Democracy Education,” “Corruption and other Threats to Democracy,” “Arab Spring after 2 Years: Lessons and Challenges,” “Democracy and the MDGs,” and “Online and Press Freedom.”

Journalists interview the Minister of Health, N. Udval, at the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies. Photo/Tenzing Paljor

The Parliamentary Forum for Democracy (PFD) provided a space for legislators to share their experiences and best practices. This is just what a legislator from Libya was seeking. He noted how during the country’s recent revolution, freedom was the only concern; now his fellow parliamentarians face the harder challenge of building institutions and practices in line with the democratic values he and his fellow citizens fought for.

This year’s PFD focused on the debilitating effects of corruption. Legislators heard how corruption is a complex issue, resulting from weaknesses in laws, regulations, monitoring, enforcement, deterrence, institutions, and the political will to address it. Participants created a five-point plan for parliamentarians to address corruption:

• An anti-corruption paradigm shift to place more emphasis on the outcomes and results of anti-corruption efforts rather than focusing on the laws and institutions that address anti-corruption;

• Coalition strengthening among parliamentary and anti-corruption networks;

• Peer-to-peer review by parliamentarians across countries to allow for informal comment and positive advice on how a state can improve its anti-corruption efforts;

• Ensuring access to information legislation allows for citizen monitoring of all aspects of government income and expenditure; and

• Ending secrecy clauses in government-private sector contracts.

The Women’s Forum, organized by the Women’s Caucus of Parliamentarians, the National Committee on Gender Equality and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focused this year on the challenges women face in political representation at the national and local level, challenges still common in many of the countries represented. Parallel sessions on “Democracy and Women’s Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment,” “Women’s Role in Preventing Corruption and Promoting Transparency,” “Democratizing and Engendering Culture,” and “Stronger Systems, Institutions and Processes for Stronger Voices” provided a platform for further discussion on women’s positive role in addressing issues such as poverty, human rights violations, conflicts, and corruption.

The forum developed a statement calling for action by the members of the CD in four key areas:

• Endorsing women’s property rights, ensuring access to finance, and ensuring equal wages, as well as recognition of unpaid work;

• Increasing research and independent monitoring of the impact of corruption using a gender lens, and strengthening of women’s anti-corruption networks;

• Creation of a culture of gender equality, free from gender-based stereotypes and gender-based violence in all sectors of society, including media, education, and domestic life; and

• Increasing and honoring gender quotas for elected and nominated positions within national and local governments and political parties, and actions to ensure fair financing of political campaigns of women and men in part through campaign finance and political party reform, including political party financing.

After the fora, plenary sessions were held on “Harnessing Open Governance for Democracy,”  “Supporting Democratic Transitions: Insights from the CD Task Forces in Moldova and Tunisia and Lessons for Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan,” and “Women and Democracy.” At the closing session, representatives of each of the five pillars of the Community of Democracies presented the resolutions prepared during the different fora and the Ulaanbaatar Declaration of the CD was adopted. Mongolia also handed over its presidency of the CD to El Salvador, which will assume leadership on July 1, 2013.

Mongolia can look back at a very successful presidency over the last two years, during which it gave new impetus to the CD and was able to make significant progress in the priority areas of its presidency. The 7th Ministerial Conference provided an opportunity to showcase to the world the important progress Mongolia has made since its democratic transition in 1990 and share important lessons learned with current and aspiring democracies around the world.

Watch a new video, developed by The Asia Foundation, that features interviews with Mongolians across the country on what democracy means for them, how democracy has developed since Mongolia’s democratic transition, and views on the CD. The video has been produced in support of Mongolia’s Presidency of the CD through funding from the Embassy of the United States in Mongolia. The Asia Foundation was the first international nonprofit organization to be invited into Mongolia following the democratic transition in 1990. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Foundation in Mongolia since it opened its office on October 1, 1993.

Meloney C. Lindberg is The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Mongolia, Jeremy Gross is a Foundation consultant based in Indonesia who has worked in Mongolia to support the Ministerial Conference, and Tirza Theunissen is the program and operations manager. They can be reached at mlindberg@asiafound.org, jg1@cbn.net.id, and ttheunissen@asiafound.org, respectively.

Cambodia announced two major bilateral trade agreements last month, with the Philippines and Thailand, that are expected to further expand the country’s rice export sector. Over the last few years, Cambodia has emerged as a major rice exporter in the region, due in large part to the Royal Government of Cambodia’s recent expansion of its agricultural sector.

Despite positive development, compared to neighboring countries with similar weather and soil conditions, Cambodia’s paddy rice yield remains relatively low. Photo/Karl Grobl

Agriculture, led by rice farming, contributes to roughly a third of the country’s GDP and has immense potential for strengthening Cambodia’s economic growth, accelerating poverty reduction, and improving the living standard of its citizens. As part of this agenda, in 2010, the RGC adopted a new Policy Paper on Paddy Production and Rice Export, better known as the Rice Policy, to promote diversification of Cambodia’s economic sectors by catalyzing growth in paddy rice production and milled rice export to match the growth seen in the garment and service sectors. In his keynote address at the policy’s launch, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said: “The policy aims to ensure that we grab the rare opportunity to develop Cambodia in the post global financial and economic cataclysm.”

If Cambodia’s rice export sector were to reach its full potential, it could produce 3 million tons of milled rice, with the total export value amounting to $2.1 billion (approximately 20% of the GDP) and an estimated additional $600 million (approximately 5% of the GDP) to the national economy. It would also boost employment and income for agricultural farmers who make up more than 70 percent of the population living in rural areas.

Despite positive development, compared to neighboring countries with similar weather and soil conditions, Cambodia’s paddy rice yield remains relatively low. In 2006, the average yield was 2.6 tons per hectare, while Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam achieved 2.8 tons, 3.5 tons, and 4.9 tons, respectively.

The underutilization and non-usage of arable land is a huge deterrent to the industry’s growth. Most Cambodian farmers cultivate paddy rice once per year during the rainy season, while farmers in Vietnam’s delta region cultivate 3.5 times annually. Such low productivity is mainly a result of high energy prices and poor transportation infrastructure. For example, in the low elevation Mekong plain, petroleum products are generally used to pump water into irrigation canals, which makes it too expensive for farmers to plant multiple crops a year. Moreover, rural areas pay a much higher rate (30-90 cents per kWh) than those living in urban centers (20 cents). In contrast, farmers in Vietnam only pay about 10 cents per kWh.

As a relatively new player in the milled rice market, Cambodia faces a steep learning curve. However, with a surplus of 3.5 million tons of paddy rice, Cambodia has the potential to soon be among the top five milled rice exporters in the world. Photo/Karl Grobl

Poor transport and infrastructure such as roads, railways, warehouses, and handling equipment also increase costs for farmers. To transport one ton of rice on a 100 km road, Cambodian farmers must spend $15, while their counterparts in Thailand and Vietnam pay $4 and $7.50, respectively. The lack of handling equipment in one of the main ports, the Sihanouk-Ville Port, is also a major constraint for the export of large quantities of milled rice. In addition, lack of access to and high cost of credit decreases domestic economic value-added and hinders milled rice export, presenting an obstacle for rice millers to stockpile paddy rice.

According to the Rice Policy, If Cambodia is to export 3 to 4 million tons of milled rice per year, it has to produce at least 10 to 11 million tons of paddy rice. In fact, in 2012, Cambodia enjoyed a surplus of more than 4.7 million in paddies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fishery. Yet, official figures from the Ministry of Commerce showed that it only exported 200,000 tons of milled rice last year, or only 10 percent of its full capacity.

To better understand the bottlenecks in the rice sector, The Asia Foundation, in partnership with the AusAID-funded program, “Cambodia Agricultural Value Chain” (CAVAC), hosted a series of consultative forums last year in three provinces – Kampong Thom, Kampot, and Takeo – with stakeholders from the private sector (farmers, seed producers, agro-business owners, exporters) and the public sector (Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Water Resources Management, provincial governors, provincial departments of line ministries, and local authorities). Approximately 370 participants attended the workshops and discussed how to create business-friendly environments (i.e., competitiveness and productivity, access to finance, access to markets), and the technical aspects of rice production (use of fertilizers and insecticides, seed categories, and availability of water sources). The insights were frank and eye-opening.

Although the challenges are significant, the opportunities for the sector are greater. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, optimistically predicted that the RGC can achieve its target for milled rice: “With regards to RGC’s rice export target in 2015, we may achieve up to 80 percent of the 1 million tons planned. This should include the milled rice to Vietnamese, Thai, and non-EU markets.”

Implementing a strategic framework like the Rice Policy is just the beginning. To increase the paddy rice production to meet market demand and promote the export of milled rice, the government must initiate and support a host of reforms in partnership with the private sector. For instance, to solve the issue of credit shortages for buying and processing paddy rice, the government can provide incentives to commercial banks to increase the loan portfolio for agriculture.

At the end of the day, the RGC must keep the farmers themselves in mind. Introducing new technologies or improving agricultural practices can only go so far if they are not accepted and adopted by farmers. Donors and NGOs can play a pivotal role in providing support and facilitating the successful implementation of new policies and projects aimed at improving the agricultural value chain.

As a relatively new player in the milled rice market, Cambodia faces a steep learning curve. However, with a surplus of 3.5 million tons of paddy rice (equivalent to 2 million tons of milled rice), Cambodia has the potential to soon be among the top five milled rice exporters in the world. More importantly, growth in the agricultural sector will translate into more economic opportunities for Cambodia’s vast rural population. While not a silver bullet, the success of the rice sector is an exciting and potentially crucial driver in Cambodia’s prosperous and equitable development.

Khut Inserey is The Asia Foundation’s senior program officer in Cambodia. He can be reached at ikhut@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

The conference in the Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation dialogue series convened in Seoul, South Korea, this month, and brought together development experts and senior government officials to discuss climate change mitigation, green growth, and adapting to and building resilience to natural disasters. This dialogue series, co-organized by The Asia Foundation and the Korea Development Institute (KDI), brings together both “emerging” and “traditional” development actors to discuss international development challenges. This year’s focus on effective cooperation for deterring the impacts of climate change was launched in Seoul, fittingly, as South Korea is playing a leading role in low-carbon development in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the UN, boosting global investments in renewable energy to $630 billion by 2030 would create at least 20 million additional jobs worldwide. South Korea is playing a leading role in the region’s green growth. Photo/Flickr user Toby Simkin

Green growth is a new policy paradigm for Asia and the Pacific that emphasizes ecologically sustainable economic progress and fosters low-carbon, socially-inclusive development. Its four pillars include sustainable production and consumption, green businesses, sustainable infrastructure, and fiscal incentives and reforms. “Growing green” means implementing more eco-efficient and profitable production, producing less pollution and waste in the process, and prioritizing the environment as essential to long-term social and economic development goals.

In July 2009, South Korea announced its “National Strategy for Green Growth” through 2050, providing a blueprint for how to shift its economic structure away from energy-intensive industries that have driven the majority of the development paths in Asia. The target goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from a business-as-usual path by 2020, and increase the country’s renewable energy to 11 percent of total energy supplies by 2030.

With initial funding of $83.6 billion (representing 2 percent of GDP), South Korea’s first Five-Year Plan for Green Growth 2009-2013 has successfully turned strategy into concrete and operational policy initiatives toward achieving green growth and resource efficiency. South Korea’s government announced plans to continue making investments in innovative, low-carbon technologies for renewable energy, waste management, public transportation and construction, and to create enough new jobs in these sectors to offset the loss of employment in current carbon-intensive industries, such as mining, petroleum refining, and fossil fuel power generation.

In terms of development cooperation, South Korea has increased its development assistance budget since 2000 by 6.5 times, to approximately $1.3 billion in 2011, and has pledged to boost financing of regional renewable energy, conservation, and development projects to 30 percent of the total aid budget by 2020. Already, the Korean government installed a Communications, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite system to improve Sri Lanka’s disaster preparedness by allowing officials to better share data, analysis, and forecasting capability. The system is part of the East Asia Climate Partnership, an initiative announced in 2008 and funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to share South Korea’s knowledge and technology resources in green growth, climate change adaptation and improved resource management to developing countries. KOICA has also pledged to build reservoirs, irrigation channels, and treatment facilities that will clean, recycle, and better manage water resources needed to effectively sustain agricultural production in the Philippines, which has decreased dramatically due to recent sustained droughts.

South Korea is also playing a leading role in green-growth policy advising. The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), founded in 2010 as a Korean NGO and since established as a treaty-based intergovernmental organization, works to advance the practice and theory of green growth by supporting the development, implementation, and diffusion of green growth strategies in developing and emerging countries, including in the least-developed countries in Asia. GGGI involves both state and non-state actors, such as other international organizations, NGOs, private companies, and research institutes.

According to a United Nations report on green growth, boosting global investments in renewable energy to $630 billion by 2030 would create at least 20 million additional jobs worldwide, making it a much larger source of employment than today’s fossil energy industry. One of the most interesting but least reported aspects of the current economic recovery effort is that over two-thirds of global green stimulus has in fact been committed in the Asia-Pacific, led by Australia, China, South Korea, and Japan.

Indeed, South Korea’s green growth strategy was highlighted throughout the AADC dialogue with representatives from other emerging economies in the region, notably China, India, and Malaysia, to share its successes on enacting renewable energy policy, implementing low-carbon transportation, and employing financial incentive for industries to make reforms to achieve green growth goals. Reflected in part by its leadership in this area, South Korea has been chosen as the home of the newly established Green Climate Fund, the multilateral financial mechanism recently created to support the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

At the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit, South Korea’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kim Sung-han, declared that “many issues today require unprecedented international cooperation. Solving today’s complex challenges will require ‘middle powers’ to play a greater, more active role. Through various initiatives, such as its programs in green growth and development cooperation, South Korea has demonstrated the influence middle powers are having on global governance and that they may be best suited to facilitate consensus building and revitalize momentum for cooperation.”

Kourtnii S. Brown is a program officer for The Asia Foundation’s Environment Programs in San Francisco, and attended the AADC conference in Seoul. She can be reached at kbrown@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

People were standing up and sitting down, intense negotiations were underway, funding decisions were being made, and a lot of commotion was coming from a crowd of over 300 policymakers, scientists, and practitioners from over 40 countries. We are gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for the Seventh Annual International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA7), and were playing games meant to capture and simplify the multitude of complex factors that go into decision-making for preparing for and responding to climate change impacts, among them: when and how much to invest in disaster preparedness measures while experiencing the cost of damages when disaster strikes.

The conference began with opening remarks by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who called for global and immediate action on climate change, highlighting the extreme vulnerability Bangladesh faces to its impacts: flooding, drought, sea level rise, salinity intrusion, and severe storms. Indeed, Bangladesh is the world’s most vulnerable country to climate change. In response, Bangladesh has become a leader in its experience and efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The government has contributed nearly $350 million of its own funds to its Climate Change Trust Fund, and communities have been adapting to climate change for years, experimenting with what does and doesn’t work. But challenges remain, and current efforts are focused on bridging the gap between government and civil society, and increasing the role of local government.

The theme for this year’s conference addresses the governance of community-based adaptation (CBA) and mainstreaming CBA into national and local planning. But this is easier said than done – in order to achieve holistic governance on climate change, it needs to be incorporated into all aspects of development considerations and decision-making, which can be a daunting and complicated task. Some of the many issues we are discussing include: how is climate change integrated and streamlined into all facets of government development planning, including agriculture, health, infrastructure, environment, and education? How are all people accounted for, including women, children, and vulnerable groups? How can disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation initiatives be coordinated? And importantly, how can adaptation initiatives effectively be monitored and evaluated?

Climate change scenario game developed developed for ACCRA and played with local government officials in Uganda, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. It distills competing factors in decision-making for investments in agriculture, health, infrastructure, energy, and education in light of the impacts from natural disasters. Photo/Lisa Hook

The climate change games, co-developed and co-facilitated by Pablo Suarez from Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, work in practical application with communities, farmers, policy makers, and humanitarian workers trying to adapt to climate change. They use simple materials in a board-game format using dice, beans, and spin-wheels, and are facilitated by trained practitioners who help translate the game dynamics into the real world complexities of climate change decision-making. The games distill complex issues and considerations to support local government decision-makers as they attempt to integrate climate change into their own development planning. They are helping to reframe engrained approaches to development planning to anticipate a range of future scenarios as a result of climate change.

This includes understanding the tradeoffs made in real-world decisions when addressing climate change, for example, the tradeoff between now vs. later and the tradeoff between individual vs. community interests. In the real world, decision making tends to favor a current “now” perspective, but the games help participants inhabit the future, and experience the consequences of inaction. Additionally, individually-focused decisions tend to be made in the short-term to receive the greatest benefits, but over the long-term collective investment increases the likelihood of withstanding shocks.

Here at the CBA7, the games provided a new way for us to interact and learn from one another – beyond the usual power point presentations. This format engages active participation, where everyone is able to ask, challenge, and learn from the process simultaneously. Our team quickly came together to decide when to invest in early warning systems for natural disasters before we rolled our dice, the outcome of which determined the impact from a natural disaster, and the resulting loss of our collective funds. The experience of anticipation, fast decision-making for investments, uncertainty, and loss quickly became very personal and emotionally charged, especially as the stakes were raised and probabilities of natural disasters were increased due to climate change.

In the end, the winning team succeeded by lobbying the game-appointed “local government” official for more “resources,” securing an advantage over other teams. But, this contributed to a valuable bigger-picture lesson: often, the systems meant to provide benefits to and support community-based adaptation do not reach their intended recipients, but are instead allocated for other interests. A lack of transparency and effective governance make accounting for these funds difficult to track, reinforcing the importance of effective, transparent, and participatory governance for valuable climate change resilience. Pablo concluded that “the games are designed to capture the incentives and disincentives in the real world, and the dynamics between immediate satisfaction and protection against potential future threats.” They are changing the nature of these dialogues.

Lisa Hook is a senior program officer for The Asia Foundation’s Environment Programs in San Francisco. She can be reached at lhook@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

As discussions on the federal budget and sequestration continue here in Washington, D.C., The Asia Foundation’s Washington office sponsored an event to discuss how various Asian nations are approaching and, in some cases, expanding their development assistance programs.

The two panels brought together seven experts representing senior government officials and policy specialists from five countries – Korea, China, India, Indonesia, and Japan – to discuss the development landscape in Asia at an event co-hosted by USAID. Although the series of discussions on “Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation” (AADC), a partnership between The Asia Foundation and the Korea Development Institute (KDI), has taken place since 2010, this was the first event in the U.S., and it was very well attended with over 100 participants at the half-day seminar.

On the first panel, Asian government representatives from Korea, India, Indonesia, and Japan each presented their country’s approach to development cooperation. These countries of course offered a range of experiences and objectives:  from Japan, with a well-established aid program, and Korea, the first country to transform from being an aid recipient to now an OECD DAC member and provider, to India, focused on South-South Cooperation, and Indonesia in the beginning stages of institutionalizing its cooperation program. Yet, despite these different perspectives, several similarities between the approaches emerged, including:

• Focus on Asia regionalism and an emphasis on helping neighboring countries;

• “Demand-driven” approach to providing technical assistance; and

• A strong interest in capacity-building and knowledge-sharing as part of their development cooperation strategies.

During the second panel, experts discussed challenges in light of the expiration of the global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. A wide range of issues were presented, including inclusive growth, access to health and education, conflict mitigation, and improved security, and international policy coherence. Speakers also noted that large, emerging actors including China and India are looking beyond 2015 to 2020.

It was very clear that both the Asian participants and our co-hosts from USAID felt that the discussion was productive, provided a useful information sharing opportunity, as well as a chance to engage the development policy community, especially during the same week as the World Bank and IMF meetings in Washington. USAID’s assistant administrator for Asia, Nisha Biswal, expressed a desire to learn and engage with Asian emerging donors to develop new partnerships. Participants noted that the “traditional donors also need to learn from emerging donors.”

As traditional development agencies  such as USAID and UNDP rethink their role and reflect on their assistance programs and the way forward, it’s clear that the Asian emerging actors are excited to be “giving back” and have much to contribute to this discussion. The Foundation is pleased to offer a platform through AADC where these critical issues can be discussed and where Asian solutions to Asian problems can be highlighted.

Following the event in Washington, D.C., panelists travel to New York City to participate in discussions at the UN Secretariat. We will soon be posting a video which was live-streamed from the D.C. event. The Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation (AADC) dialogue series is a partnership between The Asia Foundation and the Korea Development Institute (KDI). This program in Washington, D.C., is organized by The Asia Foundation and USAID, with additional support from UNDP and AusAID.

Anna Bantug-Herrera is The Asia Foundation’s associate director in the Washington, D.C., office. She can be reached at abantugherrera@asiafound-dc.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

As Mongolia makes final preparations to host the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies from April 27-29, 2013, an air of excitement and buzz is palpable here in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Among the hundreds of high-level delegates from the government, civil society, and the media attending – both from abroad and from Mongolia – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as Yemen’s Tawakoll Karman are also expected.

Ulaanbaatar will host the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies. Photo/Kristin Kelly Colombano

The Community of Democracies is a global intergovernmental coalition of over 100 democratic countries, with the goal of promoting democratic rules and strengthening democratic norms and institutions around the world. The Community was initiated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Professor Bronislaw Geremek, and former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, inviting all democratic countries to the inaugural conference in Warsaw hosted by Poland in June 2000. The Governing Council is the highest decision-making body and presently consists of 24 member countries including the United States and Mongolia.

The Community of Democracies aims to be a global platform for democratic countries, who together with civil society and parliamentarians seek to strengthen democracy both at the national level and in the international system. Its mission is to support democratic transition and consolidation worldwide and help bridge the gap between principles and practice of democracy and human rights.

Mongolia has been holding the Presidency of the Community of Democracies since July 2011. As a country that has successfully mastered the process of democratization while undergoing simultaneous political, social, and economic transformation, Mongolia serves as an example for other countries aspiring to achieve democracy in a peaceful manner. During its two-year presidential term which will end in June this year, Mongolia has focused on promoting education for democracy, strengthening regional cooperation, fostering collaboration with civil society, advancing women’s empowerment, and countering corruption. In July 2013, El Salvador will assume the Presidency of the Community of Democracies.

The 7th Ministerial Conference will consist of plenary sessions on topics such as Harnessing Open Governance for Democracy and Supporting Democratic Transition, as well as parallel sessions of five specific fora: Women’s Forum, Parliamentary Forum, Civil Society Forum, Corporate Forum and Youth Forum. At the end of the conference, a resolution on the outcomes of the various plenary sessions and fora is expected to be adopted.

Through the “Supporting Mongolia’s Presidency of the Community of Democracies Project,” funded by USAID, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and the Embassy of the United States in Mongolia, The Asia Foundation has been working to support the Mongolian Secretariat of the Community of Democracies. Last year, in partnership with the Presidency of the Community of Democracies, the Foundation together with the Zorig Foundation and MonAme Scientific Research Center organized the International Women’s Leadership Forum on July 7-9, 2012. The forum brought together over 100 participants, including former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to discuss ways to promote women’s entrepreneurship, access to natural resources, and leadership in the private sector. This year, through the generous support of its U.S. donors, the Foundation is supporting both the Women’s Forum and Parliamentary Forum and is also providing assistance on public outreach to inform citizens about the Community of Democracies in Mongolia. Stay tuned next week for further analysis and coverage of the event.

Tirza Theunissen is The Asia Foundation’s program and operations manager and Chinkhand Dorj is the communication and outreach officer in Mongolia. They can be respectively reached at ttheunissen@asiafound.org and chinkhand@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual authors and not those of The Asia Foundation.