Beyond Aid and the future of foreign money in Cambodia

11/11/20 • 44 min

Anakut - The podcast about Cambodia's future

In this sixth episode of Anakut, we discuss what lies after aid for Cambodia. We're already in a time when a fast-growing economy is pushing Cambodia into early middle-income status and into a new stage of development. That's not to say aid is leaving just yet, or that foreign money is going anywhere. To learn more, we invited Ear Sophal, associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College in the US. Sophal is a long-time political observer of Cambodian politics and, directly to our theme today, is the author of the 2013 Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy. Hit play to hear what lies beyond the aid horizon.

Previous Episode

Leapfrogging

For the fifth episode of Anakut, we’re talking leapfrogging. That’s not the classic children’s game, but the concept that developing states can skip old technology to get right up to speed with the latest and greatest. To learn more, we spoke to Kem Bora, partner at Mekong Strategic Partners investment group, and Manu Rajan, the CEO of Wing, one of Cambodia’s major digital money transfer services. Everyone wants to move fast, but what can we do to make sure all Cambodians get to leapfrog together? Listen to hear how people can adapt to a fast-evolving world.

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Democracy in Cambodia and ASEAN

This week, it’s all about democracy. We sat down with Pech Pisey, executive director from Transparency International Cambodia (TI) about the state of play here in Cambodia. From our conversation Pisey shared with us that Cambodia today does not practice democracy in a meaningful way. We spoke at length about the restriction of civil society, including the repression of protesters escalated since the July arrest of unionist Rong Chhun.