Cambodia needed to invest in women to aid its development and
integration into the ASEAN economic community, United Nations Under
Secretary-General Noeleen Heyzer said yesterday.
Heyzer, executive secretary of
the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), met with
Minister of Women Affair’s Ing Kantha Phavi and members of the Cambodian
Women’s Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA) at a small silk shop in Phnom Penh to
discuss the strides made by the government and the private sector to buoy
women’s roles in the economy.
Heyzer lauded the improvements
that both the organisation and the government have made to women’s lives in
Cambodia, but called for more action as the pending ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC) would require substantial work to ensure the country remains competitive.
“The whole integration process
will actually help to build up the infrastructure. So it’s really
infrastructure which is seen as the hardware of connectivity but we also need
to look at the software in connectivity,” she said.
Women’s roles as entrepreneurs,
and the CWEA’s efforts to create a co-working space to allow women to unite to
develop businesses and receive training was highlighted as one of the key
efforts in enabling the Kingdom to prepare for the AEC, as making sure people
have the skills necessary to do business is as important as having the means to
do business.
Heyzer expressed concerns as
well, saying that Cambodia needs to build on its strengths through
diversification.
“I think the most important thing
is to really take a look at how the economic intergration is to taking place.
Cambodia obviously has certain comparative advantages. You have a whole
manufacturing sector that has been focused on garments, but at the same time
you need to diversify the whole economy. Tourism is another major sector here.
Therefore providing those types of services will be critical,” she added.
Kantha Phavi anticipated Heyzer’s
remarks earlier in the day when she said: “All economic progress of Cambodia is
undermined when potential from thousands of women remains untapped.”
Dr Heyzer’s trip to Cambodia came
as part of the gender review process for the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals.
Gregory Pellechi
Business & Investment Opportunities
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