【GREETINGS】
Masashi Kamo, Chairman
It was 1997 when I started a business in Cambodia, and I remember being shaken in the car from the bumpy road with no traffic lights on my way from the airport to the inner Phnom Penh city like it was yesterday. On the other hand, corridors of the Intercontinental hotel of my stay were paved with marble, and the chandelier on the ceiling was so bright, it felt like it was another world. Phnom Penh City, or even the Kingdom of Cambodia has been united with the citizens under Prime Minister Hun Sen’s leadership and supported by various infrastructures such as modern traffic network with signal system.
At the time when I was doing my business with international staffs like Japanese nationals and Cambodian nationals whom I had employed in Cambodia, it seemed like the city of Phnom Penh which was developing day and night looked promising in the eyes of the staffs. However, when I went outside the city and saw the poverty in the countryside, it was very heartbreaking, and I realized that volunteer work was necessary before doing business in order to make contributions to this country. Ever since then I along with the Cambodian Ambassador to Japan have dug more than 50 wells, and recently the construction of the vocational training center has started.
It is up to the young leaders of Cambodia to choose either agriculture or industrialization for their nation, however, I believe that I shall strive for introducing modern agriculture technology by utilizing abundant water resources and the Tonle Sap Lake which carries rich soil that this country has to offer in order to contribute to this country’s development. When I heard Prime Minister Hun Sen’s project plan to export 1 million tons of milled rice by 2015, I realized what I was trying to accomplish was not wrong.
For every opportunity I had, I have informed the politicians and business people in Japan about both difficulties about Cambodia and the potential for growth as a nation of agriculture, and recently a corporation in Japan sympathized with my works all these years and decided to participate in rice milling business to help Cambodia grow.
Even though this may be a small contribution, I feel happy like never before for the modernization of the agriculture for Cambodia. I would like to make further contributions from activities as this.
Additionally, our organization is communicating with a Japanese airliner and the aviation authorities in Cambodia for the finalization of the bilateral aviation agreement between Japan and Cambodia so that Japanese corporations that plan investment in Cambodia and tourists who would like to see the Angkor Wat of the World Heritage. If the agreement is made, direct flights between Japan and Cambodia will probably be initiated. With your understanding and support, the land cultivation that is now being prepared is begging to expand. I would like to put my efforts day and night in order to be such an NGO that may make expectations from others.