Phnom Penh, Oct. 6, 2001– Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An told His Excellency K. Shanmugam, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law of the Republic of Singapore, on Thursday that Cambodia is improving the vocational training of its workforce to meet the demands of the labor market.
Dr.
Sok An, who is also Minister in Charge of the Office of the Council of
Ministers, told His Excellency K. Shanmugam that Cambodia is facing a
serious flood, comparable to the one that severely damaged the country
in 2000.
Bilateral relations between Cambodia and Thailand were also raised in the discussion.
Dr.
Sok An—who had visited Singapore and learned that information
technology (IT) has been playing an important role in economic
development—said that Cambodia needs more vocational training,
especially in the area of IT.
“Some
graduates and students cannot get jobs because they are not qualified.
That is why, upon my return from Singapore at the time, I called on
officials of the concerned institutions to visit Singapore to get
experience,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Dr.
Sok An said that Cambodia has set up a number of vocational training
centers, under the management of the Ministry of Labor, so as to produce
a skilled labor force to meet the growing demand of the market.
Dr. Sok An said that Cambodia has a large labor force but the country still cannot find enough skilled workers.
The
Singaporean Foreign Minister shared his views with Dr. Sok An, and said
that Singapore will continue to help Cambodia by providing more
training for Cambodian officials.
Also
in the meeting Dr. Sok An said that the current flood is damaging
Cambodia’s physical infrastructures and its crops. The flood hit the
country in the north, east and south since last week, he said.
“In some areas, thousands of hectares of rice fields have been under water,” said Dr. Sok An.
Although
the flood has receded slowly, Dr. Sok An foresaw that the water that
will remain in canals will become useful for supplying the coming dry
rice season.
The
Deputy Prime Minister also raised bilateral relations with Thailand,
saying that the two countries’ ties are now much better than under the
previous government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Dr.
Sok An said that Cambodia is pleased with the decision by the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July, which ordered both
Cambodia and Thai troops to pull out from a temporary demilitarized zone
covering about 17.3 sq km. The court ordered that Thailand should not
obstruct Cambodia’s free access to the Temple, and both parties should
allow observers appointed by ASEAN to have access to the demilitarized
zone. The two countries should report to the court compliance or
non-compliance with the court’s decision.
His
Excellency K. Shanmugam said that Singapore supports the role Indonesia
is playing by sending observers to be posted at the Cambodia-Thailand
border.
Dr.
Sok An also said that although Cambodia will host the ASEAN summit next
year, Phnom Penh still wants Indonesia to play the role of sending
observers to the border.
His
Excellency K. Shanmugam said that Cambodia is to take over the hosting
of the summit at a time of hardship as a result of the global economic
downturn, but Singapore looks to support Cambodia in hosting the event.