Cambodia bets on Saemaeul movement to spur rural reform

With agriculture still the mainstay of its economy, Cambodia is seeking to reform rural communities in partnership with Korea to shore up residents’ livelihoods and boost grain exports. The Southeast Asian country is seeking to follow in the footsteps of the “Saemaeul Undong,” or New Community Movement, a rural reform drive in Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. The two countries agreed in June to build a training institute and carry out pilot projects in 30 villages by 2018, for which Seoul pledged $8 million in grant aid. … The tentatively named SMU Training Center, to be launched early next year in Kampong Speu, some 70 kilometers west of the capital, will include lecture rooms, laboratories and a dormitory and be capable of accommodating up to 100 trainees at a time. … Relations between the two countries have in recent years been improving on the back of upbeat growth in Seoul’s official development assistance and people-to-people exchanges. Korea is Cambodia’s fifth-largest source of ODA, after China, Japan, the U.S. and Australia, funneling about $516 million into the country since 1991. It finances infrastructure development, health care, education, as well as the Saemaeul Undong project. …

 Shin Hyon-hee
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20141109000243