1. Introduction

I visited Cambodia twice: at the end of April 1993, just before the general election; and in January 1996. During the first trip, I visited the capital, Phnom Penh, and Kompong Speu province to cover the NGOs' activities in donating artificial legs. The second trip included visits to Phnom Penh and Kompong Thom province to cover the "Atsuhito Village" built in memory of the late Mr. Atsuhito Nakata who was shot to death in April 1993, while working as a U.N. volunteer. On my second visit, about three years after the general election, the streets in the capital were clean, showing that the country was developing as a "tourist country." However, looking at the domestic situation, economic activities were led by investment from Chinese living abroad  - the same phenomenon that Cambodia once prospered under thanks to the "UNTAC boom". Also, educational, welfare and medical services depended largely on the activities of NGOs from various countries. At the end of last year, a report informed us of the country's severe hardship due to a flood, with national roads washed away. The country is now making efforts to join international societies, such as participation in the ASEAN group, but innumerable problems will make it a long time before the country's reconstruction is complete.

2. January 1, 1996

The taxi carrying me was running from the international airport to the city area. I did not see messy vending stands along the streets of Phnom Penh which had been a usual sight on my first visit three years earlier. The number of vehicles on the streets was smaller, due perhaps to the disappearance of cars with important-looking "UN" stickers. The paved roads were very clean, as if they had been swept by brooms. On the road there was the show room of a big Korean automobile maker, a gas stand with freshly painted walls, bank buildings, and even card-system public telephone booths. There were  also many hotels under construction. When I dropped in at the hotel where I had stayed during my first visit, I heard that the hotel was managed by a new owner. It seemed that the hotel had been sold to an Chinese investor in Thailand. However, the domed central market which is very conspicuous in the capital, Phnom Penh, remained unchanged. In this market, perishable foods, clothing, sundry goods and electric appliances were on sale. Commodities other than perishable foods were from Thailand and Vietnam. A new bookstore had also opened in the market.

A woman aged 40, and an owner of a sundry goods store, said, "After the UNTAC pullout, my income has become 3 percent of what I earned in the days when UNTAC was active here. At that time, I earned a monthly profit of US$100, but now I can only get enough money for living expenses for a few days, even if I work for a month." Commodity prices remained as high as they had been during the UNTAC activities in the country. As domestic manufacturing industries were inactive, the country's economic cycle stiffened and worked ineffectively. The people's stagnant income could hardly promote the sales of commodities. The national economy was in the same condition, and the rate of taxes was doubled by the government.

All of the Japanese people in Cambodia, including those working with NGOs, said, "Backed by the government's policy to promote the tourist industry; hotels, restaurants and night clubs, that were once visited by UNTAC-related people and media people, are still enjoying good profits. However, many of them have been sold by local businessmen and are now operated by foreign investors of neighboring countries, including Chinese who are living outside of China. They are driving around in  new Japanese cars or Mercedes."
The number of tourists was on a steady increase, because the menace from Pol Pot had been greatly reduced due to the surrender of No. 2 leader, Yen Sari. Cambodia had excellent weather when I visited Phnom Penh in January. Local people wore long-sleeve shirts while the temperature was 20�Ž to 25�Ž.
 "Cambodiana," the best hotel in Phnom Penh, was full of tourists from Japan and France who were visiting Angkor Wat. Tourists from overseas were there with a sense of security on their faces, which had not been seen three years before. Japanese women were very busy buying rubies and other accessories.

3. Gap Between Rich and Poor

The so-called "delicious businesses" were occupied almost exclusively by foreign investors. The gap between the rich and the poor was becoming wider and wider (according to a survey on monthly living expenditure by level of Phnom Penh citizens, the highest level was US$1,016 and the lowest US$64), which was also one of reasons for the clean roads in Phnom Penh. Around 1993, people were able to enjoy profits in the UNTAC-related businesses. As a result, there emerged many "petty-rich people," who rode around in second-hand Japanese cars as expat Chinese were now doing in new Japanese cars or Mercedes. However, the UNTAC pullout worsened the country's economy. Ninety percents of the country's population have been engaged in the agricultural industry, and many merchants in urban areas were massacred by Pol Pot, thus it is said that Cambodia lacks good businessmen. Under such circumstances, business opportunities were swallowed up by foreign people such as Vietnamese, Korean and the Chinese of Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. The Cambodian economy is mainly controlled at present by Cambodian government's officials who hold the authority over the licenses and approvals, and overseas businesses. The country's money is not circulated in its own markets, but flows out overseas.
The remarkable gap between the rich and the poor can be seen not only among various levels of citizens in the metropolitan areas, but also between the country's central and rural areas. This situation is being accelerated by the insufficient provisions for infrastructure. vehicles are the only means of transportation for people. National and other trunk roads were destroyed by bombardment during the battle with Pol Pot, or damaged by floods in the rainy season, and they are left unrepaired.
Along with the provision of a traffic network, the electricity supply is also an important factor of people's living environment. Phnom Penh was illuminated by lights until late at night. However, in Kompong Thom near the Tongle Sap Lake, the second largest city in the country which once played an important role as a key traffic point, people relied on generators alone. It was only the provincial governor's residence and the adjoining guest house, an old building remaining from the time Cambodia was under the rule of France, that were lit at night. Even these buildings put out their lights at midnight.
Land mines, which supposedly need 100 years to be cleared away, have a strong influence on the provision of infrastructure. A vast plain spread along the national road from Phnom Penh through Kompong Thom. An uncompleted factory building owned by a Taiwanese investor stood at the northern part of Kompong Thom. I heard that its completion was postponed indefinitely because of the non-delivery of construction materials due to deficient transportation and a shortage of workers with skills suitable for the construction.
After driving for half a day, I made it to the "Atsuhito Village." It was built at the place Mr. Atsuhito Nakata was shot, and had 3,000 inhabitants. Their houses were frugal with floors highly raised and roofs covered only with palm leaves, although they were built very recently - at the end of 1995. The inhabitants were leading so-called self-sufficient lives with; rice growing (a single crop without irrigation, and the soil is surprisingly fertile so that rice can be harvested only by seeding and without any further care), small fish taken from little ponds, and firewood from palm trees.

4. Deluge in October 1996 - Development and Environment -

Parents of the late Mr. Atsuhito Nakata received a letter from Cambodia in November 1996, about 10 months after my second visit. The letter explained the growth of cherry trees planted at the Atsuhito Village and also reported on the severe damage caused by a flood, including Route 6 (one of the national roads) connecting Phnom Penh and Kompong Thom being washed away by the flood.
Every year, the Mekong River is swollen in the rainy season. The Tongle Sap Lake, the largest lake in Southeast Asia and located in the central part of Cambodia, increases its area to about 10,000 square kilometers, (equal to about three times its size in the dry season). The plain in the dry season changes into a vast lake, and there is a saying  "fishes fall down from trees" following the subsidence of floods.
On the other hand, the over-felling for obtaining timber in recent years and the digging of ruby mines have caused outflows of surface soil. It is said that the thickness of soil that flows into and accumulates in the Tongle Sap Lake amounts to 2-4 cm per year, and that the change of lake's condition is so rapid that its bottom may be seen in several decades. This change seems to have caused floods. And, finally, in October 1996, a national road - one of a few roads that are paved - was washed away by the flood.
In recent years, NGO activities for environmental issues have emerged in Cambodia, too. Cambodian Buddhist monks are taking the initiative in plantation activities. It is characteristic that NGO activities in Cambodia are carried out by Cambodians themselves. It is because the Cambodian government, with its authority of licensing, often intervenes in the activity contents, if activities are of overseas NGOs. It is desirable that the support from overseas NGOs is directed at such "neutral" fields as constructing hospitals and school buildings, not at environmental problems that might criticize the government policies. Mr. Osamu Shibuya, a Japanese Buddhist monk aged 49, is now active in offering financial support to volunteer activities of plantation through his own printing business, while taking into consideration actual requests from the local Buddhist circle. He said with a smile, "The government can't complain because this activity is carried out by Cambodians themselves. In addition, nobody can disobey monks in this country."


5. Conclusion

As I stated above, the promotion of urban development in Cambodia must solve the complicated structural problems such as land mines, destroyed environment, economic structure that depends on foreign investments after the UNTAC pullout, and the gap between the rich and the poor. The current direction does calll for appropriate development. At the same time, there will be a stronger push for the development of infrastructure in the scope of the ASEAN regi on, such as the development of the Mekong River, if the country wantsto become a member of the ASEAN group. Cambodia's largest problem is its lack of manpower, giving an impression that Cambodia leaves its development to NGOs and overseas businesses. About 90 percent of the Cambodian population lives on agriculture, therefore, it seems better for the country to build a sound domestic economic system based on agriculture than to seek rapid industrialization in pursuit of ASEAN countries.
The country might be trapped in a more vicious cycle of "hollowing-out" unless it takes a long-term modernization policy, while obtaining support from other countries through establishing basic strategies as a nation. About 200 overseas NGOs have worked in close cooperation with the general populace in Cambodia in the past several decades. These NGOs recognize that the Cambodian government is inclined to seek immediate development rather than establishing the necessary long-term policies. Therefore, the overseas NGOs are presently involving more Cambodian staff members in their activities, and are as enthusiastic about educating these members as they are about their support activities. The Cambodian NGOs now numbers about 50, while there was only one three years ago. I hope this is a light for further development of the country.