Remarks by DASD Charles A. Ray on "The Evolution of U.S. - Cambodia Relations", University of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, January 16, 2007

Thank you for the warm welcome.  I was asked to speak about the evolution of Cambodia-U.S. relations.  I’ll leave the assessment of the current state of those relations to our capable Country Team under the outstanding leadership of my good friend the Honorable Joseph Mussomelli, and talk instead about the future.

I will not, however, try to predict where our relations are going.  In relations between nations, as with people, predictions are dangerous and subject to unseen events.

What I will do is to take another approach.  I think our future relations will be shaped by our individual and collective responses to the defining issues of this century.  It is those issues, then, that I will address.

While serving at the U.S. Ambassador to the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia, my interests were in ensuring the relationship between this country and the United States was a productive one, for both sides.  In recent years, that relationship has been a positive one in most areas, but it has not always been that way, as you may know.

In my current assignment for the U.S. Government, I lead the worldwide effort to recover and identify the remains of American soldiers lost in combat from all wars, even back to World War II.  For Cambodia, the war we called the “Vietnam War” is over, but for many of your families and ours, the pain of a missing soldier is still with us.

This new assignment was important to me for several reasons.  I had been a soldier during the Vietnam War, and served in combat in what was then South Vietnam. I saw, firsthand, the horror of war, and began to understand the nature of the word “commitment.”  The commitment of soldier to soldier.  And the commitment of a nation to its soldiers who have volunteered to go into harm’s way.

I was also offered this opportunity, I believe, because of my extensive background in issues of Southeast Asia, and particularly my service in Cambodia.  I played a role in turning a page in the history books by helping to re-establish our diplomatic presence in Vietnam as the first American Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City.

As the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia from 2002 to 2005, I was able to see firsthand the cooperation between your government and our POW/MIA teams.  In Southeast Asia, our teams conduct investigations in archives and villages, seeking out minute details that might lead them to an aircraft crash site, or to a potential burial location.

The investigations are followed by another team of specialists, including an archeologist or forensic anthropologist, who excavate a site and recover the remains.  Many months of negotiations and scheduling with the host nation go into each and every operation.  In Cambodia, the cooperation and support has been very, very positive.  Your citizens, your village leaders, your national leaders … have all been very supportive of our efforts over the years.  I have no concerns about the future of our relations in this area, or about Cambodia’s continued cooperation.

In fact, we hold up this Cambodian cooperation as an example to all the other nations in which we work.  We point to Cambodia to simply say, “Follow their lead.  The Cambodians have set an excellent example.”  Pointing to the humanitarian nature of this mission, I must say that this cooperation does, in large part, help define the future relationship between our two countries.

Periodically, we invite other Southeast Asian leaders to join together for us all to review the progress of this mission.  One such meeting was in Siem Riep in 2004, and we were honored that Prime Minister Hun Sen addressed our conference on the importance of our mission to the entire region, not just to Cambodia.  The Prime Minister noted that the mission of recovering the remains of American soldiers has offered new venues of cooperation between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

One of the continuing challenges we face is the necessity for our joint teams to travel back and forth across the borders of these three nations.  When our specialists are pursuing a lead, it is absolutely necessary that we have the flexibility to move across borders so that important leads and witnesses do not disappear.  Yet, when faced with rigid border-crossing rules and regulations, our investigations have often been halted for months, or longer, while negotiations must take place.  Such delays can be devastating to the progress of a case, and especially to the families who are waiting – hoping – that answers on their missing loved one will be forthcoming.

I must say that Cambodian officials have clearly recognized that while border crossings are a matter of control and sovereignty, they have also demonstrated that such matters should not interfere with a humanitarian mission.  Again, Cambodia has set an example for the other nations in this region, and the citizens of the United States recognize that.

Just as Cambodia has supported the recovery of the remains of American soldiers, and related issues such as border crossings, its relations with the U.S. also depend on how it chooses to address other issues.

Cambodia’s location in the middle of Southeast Asia, with its rapidly growing economies, places it in a region of importance to the U.S.  Cambodia’s immediate neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, have already demonstrated themselves to be dynamic and growing economies.  Cambodia has the potential to join them.

Cambodia is also looking ahead at its future role in national and international economic development. ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, has become a powerful economic force.  With a population of more than 500 million people and a combined economy of nearly 750 billion dollars, it is a powerful engine for trade and growth.

There are many other opportunities for Cambodia as it looks ahead to a future in the world community of nations.

It has been invited to join the World Trade Organization.  Membership will entail great reforms in the way Cambodia does business.  It must reform in order to attract investment and the WTO will provide a familiar framework for investors to judge the country’s business climate.

As Cambodia moves in this direction, the U.S. has a unique opportunity to help shape overall development, to help create open markets while fostering respect for human rights and the rule of law.  A democratic, representative and transparent government is key to the success of Cambodia on the world stage.  Without it, success is most certainly doomed.  With it, your future is virtually unlimited.

I would like to cite one example of a cooperative effort that was of great benefit to both nations.  About six years ago, the U.S. signed a bilateral textile agreement with Cambodia.  Its terms were relatively simple.  Cambodia would have limited import access to the U.S. market in return for respecting four core international labor standards. These were (1) Freedom from child labor; (2) Freedom from forced labor; (3) Freedom from discrimination; and (4) The right to assembly.  To most of the world, these are very basic human rights, but they are often the last rights to be respected among developing nations.

The results of this simple textile agreement have been dramatic.  A tenfold increase in number of garment factories in Cambodia and a quarter of a million new jobs for Cambodians.  These are good jobs that generate regular income that filters down to small villages throughout the country.  – perhaps into the homes from which many of you have come.  There is international monitoring to ensure these rights continue to be respected and that the rule of law is upheld.  There are beginnings of an independent labor movement where free unions have never existed before.

Four years after the signing of the agreement, total garment exports were valued at more than one third of Cambodia’s Gross Domestic Product.  Even more startling is that garment exports account for more than 90 % of Cambodia’s total exports in recent years.  Before this unique agreement with the U.S., the garment sector consisted of a dozen factories.  Today, there are more than 200.

These 200 factories generate millions of dollars in wages each month that support no only the employees themselves, but their families, farms and businesses.  The success of this socially-conscious policy in Cambodia could hold lessons for other business development here and throughout Asia.  Other developing countries are studying this trade-labor linkage as a path to economic and social success in an increasing competitive world.  As dramatic as this example is for Cambodia, there are other areas that also have a direct impact on the lives of Americans.

We can no longer afford to tolerate failed states.  Cambodia has played an unheralded but important role in the war on terrorism.  We must make every effort to ensure that Cambodia succeeds and that it does not become a haven for terrorists, weapons and terrorist financing.  It has arrested known terrorist suspects, increased its control over its borders and – with U.S. support -- become the first nation to destroy its entire stock of portable surface to air missiles.

It is also in our national interests to prevent Cambodia from becoming a conduit for trafficking of humans and narcotics.  Cambodia has become a valuable ally in arresting the basest of all sexual predators, pedophiles.  The cooperation between U.S. and Cambodian authorities in enforcing new U.S. legislation in this area has been outstanding.

While some Americans may not be able to cite the details of the history and the rich culture of Cambodia, they do respect and hold dear certain general principles.  There are areas of our bilateral relationship that many ordinary American citizens – and our government --  consider critical in a positive relationship.  Engagement in the war on terrorism, on drugs, on human trafficking and pedophilia. A stable and transparent government that respects and protects the rights of its citizens.  A government that is responsive to the need for reform.  A government that understands and supports this American mission to help account for its missing soldiers.

Cambodia’s future can be a bright and prosperous one.  It is your generation that will have the greatest impact on that future, as you have the greatest stake in its outcome.  The government and people of the United States will continue to offer you the hand of friendship and support as you move forward.

Thank you.