He first arrived in Cambodia in 2001 and always wanted to work here. Since the end of August 2022, Mr Ly-Batallan is back in Cambodia as Head of the Economic Department and Economic Counsellor at the French Embassy in Cambodia.
As a participant and speaker at the forthcoming France Cambodia 2024 Business Forum, Mr Ly-Batallan talks about his background, his work on the France-Cambodia economic relationship, and his outlook for the event in July.
Tell us about your career in a few words
E.L-B: I went straight into employment after I passed my baccalauréat, and by chance I ended up working for the civil service as a temporary civil servant and then on a fixed-term contract. The French system allows you to take the civil service exams after a minimum of five years' service without a higher education diploma, so I took the exam, passed and went on to work in the diplomatic service, in particular in various economic departments.
Then, for both personal and professional reasons, I quickly realised that I wanted to live in Asia. So, after having been Director and Head of Technical Assistance Projects (economic and financial fields) at the GIP Adetef Office in Vietnam, Head of the Economic Department and Director of the Invest in France Agency Office at the French Institute in Taipei (Taiwan), Consul General of France in Ho Chi Minh City and Head of the Economic Department and correspondent for BF Invest at the French Embassy in Malaysia, I'm now working and thriving in the Cambodian capital.
What is your role as Head of the Economic Department and Economic Counsellor at the French Embassy in Cambodia?
E.L-B: The Economic Department of the French Embassy in Cambodia has three staff members and carries out macroeconomic and financial analyses, in particular by monitoring French interests in Cambodia. When bilateral trade negotiations are launched, this becomes the prerogative of the European Union via the European Commission, but our department provides its advice.
Then, in support of the Ambassador, my role is to find ways for French companies to develop projects and invest in Cambodia.
"And because of the strong and growing relationship between the two countries, the Kingdom naturally looks to Europe and France in particular.”
So we're also going to advise companies on their investment projects. However, some of them come to see us directly to find out how the economy is doing, what the outlook for growth is, how the market is developing or what the difficulties are in terms of customs and taxation, which provides a bit of a framework for the business environment, and that's where we come in.
We are also able to offer what is known as project assistance. We have a number of Bercy-funded instruments that can be used to deliver studies or demonstrators to help finance projects that we consider to be viable and worthwhile. So my job here is to provide technical assistance to complement the work of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the leading development aid cooperation agency, through subsidised financing.
For my part, I have tools at my disposal to help companies set up projects, such as the FASEP - Fonds d'études et d'aide au secteur privé - (Private Sector Study and Assistance Fund).
For example, EDF is going to work with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and with Electricité du Cambodge to study hydraulic projects. These are studies that can cost several hundred thousand euros and companies are sometimes reluctant to undertake a study if there is no commercial prospect behind it and sometimes, when we start the study, we are not 100% certain. So we do an initial screening and, if we think there's potential in a certain sector, we'll finance the study and, if it goes well, the company will certainly benefit from a contract afterwards.
As I also represent the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty within the Embassy, when AFD is in charge of a project, it will ask me for an opinion when it concerns a project in one of my areas of expertise.
Finally, on an ad hoc basis, if a company is experiencing difficulties, I may have to support it and go and see the Cambodian authorities to find solutions.
Tell us about your expertise in the complexities of Cambodia's growth
E. L-B: Cambodia is still a Least Developed Country (LDC), an economy that still lacks some development despite its performance over the last twenty years. What has made Cambodia strong in a difficult international context is sometimes also its weakness: it is export-oriented, it makes money by exporting, but when those who import your products buy less, there are counter-blows and this weighs on the country's growth.
And as the country grows faster and faster, the economy becomes more complex to manage. Between 2000 and 2019, the country's annual growth rate averaged 8.2%, and the country's economic structure has changed, with a greater presence in the service sector than in agriculture, with simultaneous development of the industrial sector.
Growth, in terms of the added value created each year, adds to the country's wealth. The Cambodian authorities have recalculated Cambodia's GDP using 2014 as the reference year, rather than 2000 as in other years. Using a methodology from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Ministry of Economy and Finance was able to determine that by 2023, real GDP had jumped by 36%. It was there, but it was poorly described. And so with this new methodology, GDP is now estimated at almost 42 billion US dollars.
In terms of Cambodia's development, this change calls for a greater awareness of its increasing complexity, and the presence of a younger government within the Kingdom, with better-trained ministers and a new vision of things, is better suited to these phases of the country's development.
"The more a country develops, the more complex its economic structures become, and the greater the need for public policies capable of responding to needs that are no longer the same.”
"The new government has a real vision of the country's development and that's very interesting. It's exciting to be working in this context.”
What's your assessment of bilateral economic relations between France and Cambodia?
E.L-B: After periods of stagnation, particularly since the health crisis between 2019 and 2022, which did a lot of damage to the economy, but also to Franco-Cambodian trade, the two countries are now in a rather dynamic and favourable period.
First there were the visits by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet (December 2022), then by King Norodom Sihamoni (November 2023). On the other hand, the official visit by the Cambodian Prime Minister last January reaffirmed Franco-Cambodian cooperation and the development of projects, particularly in the energy, health and agriculture sectors, is envisaged, a development that corresponds well with the vision of the new Cambodian government.
We are therefore in a "good period", but trade between the two countries remains somewhat complicated. We know that it's difficult to get an accurate picture, because products transit either through Vietnam or Singapore before being shipped to France, but arriving in the Netherlands or Belgium.
After the Paris Agreements, Cambodia returned to the international community. Until the early 2000s, France was a major partner, then more and more countries took an interest in the Kingdom.
Today, although France has become just another partner, culture and history still mean that there is a special bond between our two countries.
If we look at the bilateral relationship, France has the leading presence in Europe, with some forty subsidiaries of French groups and up to 400 companies set up by French nationals (EFE), which maintain special links with France.
What is your outlook for the France-Cambodia Business Forum 2024?
E.L-B: As a speaker at the forum alongside the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cambodia (CCIFC), I'd like to emphasise the opportunity for French companies to gain a better understanding of the Cambodian market.
"With this Forum, we're trying to offer French companies already established in the Kingdom or coming directly from France, the most honest view of the Cambodian market, its potential, its possibilities and sometimes its limits and complexities."
It's all about bringing together Cambodian needs, French know-how and business commitments.
"The aim of the Forum is to give companies as close and as real an image as possible of the Cambodian market and, above all, to ensure that it meets their needs.
To find out more about the event and book a ticket: https://fafc2024.grweb.site/
For more information on the programme: https://fafc2024.grweb.site/events
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