Dear Editor,
I read with great interest the letter to the Editor from Mr Arnaud Darc, CEO of Thalias Hospitalty Group, Phnom Penh, presenting well-rounded analysis of the application and implementation of the EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for Cambodia.
While I am in total support of his excellent points on the EBA situation in Cambodia, I would like to add that the impending withdrawal issue appears to be purely based on EU political decisions masked behind the issue of human rights, stretching shamelessly too far to include politics in economic assistance.
This is similar to seeing the trees but not the forest.
By considering politics versus real socio-economic impacts, the EU should seriously evaluate the welfare and livelihoods of thousands of Cambodians who are benefiting from the EBA scheme, lest the EU condemn the goodwill they once gave poor Cambodians.
Moreover, in the eyes of the world, will the EU feel proud for depriving thousands of Cambodians their earnest efforts to make a living?
Someth Suos, Former Ambassador to the UN and WTO in Geneva
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Send letters to: [email protected] or PO Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.
