From
the age of 19, I spent 7 years in Tokyo receiving university education thanks
to the Japanese Government scholarship (Monbukagakusho). My bachelor degree was
from Hitotsubashi University and master from University of Tokyo in the area of
international politics.
After
joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, I also
spent another four years in Tokyo as Cambodian diplomat. English and Japanese
are my professional languages.
Currently,
in addition to my professional background in foreign policy, my research
interests are in 1) government policies to stimulate private sector, to attract
foreign direct investment and diversify economic base and industry, 2)
infrastructure development and 3) the economic positioning of Cambodia within
ASEAN.
Core Beliefs
1. Pragmatism and Result
Ideologies don’t matter. Realistic and practical
solution is what matter. It does not matter how great your idea or how noble
your intention, if it does not create or link with result, it will still be an
idea.
2. Positive and Forward Thinking
Negative thought can be the source of energy but it
often creates anger, makes us pessimist, and/or thinking too much without any
result. Living in a developing country, we all have a lot to be angry about.
But instead of being pessimist, we should pour our energy in doing thing we are
good at and contribute to our society in our own way.
3. “Nothing is too small in contributing to our society”
Anyone with any profession can contribute to the
development of the country. One needs to excel in our own profession, developing
our own self, family and society, and once we all have done our share of work,
our whole society will definitely move forward.
We need to keep asking ourselves have we done well in
our works? What advancement have we brought to our work, life and family? What
positive development that we have made for ourselves and people around us? What
legacy we intend to make for ourselves and society?
4. Our facts are not
always the same with others’
What we believe to be as a “fact” can turn out to be something
else the next day because no one can receive perfect information. We need to
open our eyes, ears and hearts to receive different opinion even if we disagree
with the ideas in the first place.