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| Kim Il Sung (L) and Sihanouk (R) |
The objective is to strengthen cooperation in agriculture. For years, the North has suffered from chronic food crises, caused by the disastrous economic policies of the regime of Kim Jong-il. Ties between Pyongyang and Phnom Penh since the days of King Sihanouk and Kim Il-sung. Conflicting opinions …
Thursday, July 28, 2011
By Asia News
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews / Agencies) – The establishment of a “solid business relationship” with particular attention in the “agricultural sector” is the objective of the delegation of senior North Korean officials visiting Phnom Penh this week. The group, led by Deputy Trade Minister Ri Myong San, met Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, to discuss “new possibilities of cooperation” for the development of both countries. The attention to the agricultural sector – Cambodia is one of the major rice producers – seems to be related to chronic food shortages that affect citizens of North Korea, because of the disastrous socio-economic policies promoted by the regime of Kim Jong-il.
Re-proposing an initial agreement between the two countries signed in 1993, the parties aim to develop long-dormant trade ties, reports The Phnom Penh Post. Cambodian officials point out that “there are zero economic and trade exchanges between Cambodia and North Korea at the moment”. However, the two nations have a long history of friendship and cooperation, so that the former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk – a beloved and controversial figure, who dominated second half of the 1900 – maintained close personal relationships with the “Eternal President “Kim Il-sung, father of the” Dear Leader “now in power.
Analysts and observers express mixed reactions to a possible strengthening of ties between Phnom Penh and Pyongyang. Chantrabot Ros, a professor at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that on the one hand it promoted the export of agricultural products, but also remembers that visits by senior officials of ASEAN countries (Association that brings together 10 nations of South-East Asia) to North Korea are “very rare”.
Other observers note, however, that the North Korean regime is in urgent need of food and agricultural products and this represents “an opportunity” for Cambodia. Phnom Penh offers rice, wheat and potatoes. For years the government has initiated policies to boost exports of food, so much so that Prime Minister Hun Sen has set as a target to market one million tons of rice by 2015 aboard.
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