My first visitor

Last night Lizzy came in from London for her first trip here. The flight was 2.5 hours late, but all the better to finally have her in my arms. Very quickly it seemed as though we never left in January. We feel very relaxed and at home in Phnom Penh and now I'm really glad I have Lizzy by my side if for only a few weeks this time.

This week I've been in the office reviewing my work so far. It's been a steep learning curve about the economic landscape in Cambodia which is influenced by so many factors. Although I've been in business for the better part of 30 years, this is a very different context when compared to America and the rest of the Western world. I'm advising VSO Cambodia so that it positions itself most effectively to play a role in developing small scale enterprise. As in America where small business employs nearly 50% of the people, the same is true in others parts of the world as well. It is a strategy that most of the economists in development work have signed off on as being the best way forward.

The classic problem here is that 85% of the population is rural and depend on fishing and rice farming to create their subsistence. That which they don't eat for themselves they take to a village market to sell. Or, more likely, they sell it to middlemen who in turn give them a token amount compared to what it will sell for. But the challenge for the small fisher or rice farmer is how do they transport it to the village or town to sell it? Instead they simply take the lower amount offered on the spot. This is just one very little snapshot of a symptom that we need to address if we are going to make an impact at the furthest reaches of poverty.

Then there's the fact that Cambodia has over 75% of its population under the age of 30. That's due to the enormous loss of life during the Khmer Rouge years. So there is a real deficit of experience and know how that somehow needs to be made up.

And the "enabling environment" - the macro economic, legal and political forces under which business and society operate - is very challenging for small businesses to form and grow. Take the statistics I ran into this week from the World Bank that ranks 175 countries of the world in enabling environment terms. Cambodia ranks the following: 159 in ease of starting a business, 143 ease of doing business, 124 in employing workers, 100 in registering property, 159 in obtaining and dealing with licenses, and 174 in financing and obtaining credit. Compare this with the US rankings: 3, 3, 1, 10, 22, & 7 and you can see there is a dramatic difference in the context of creating free enterprise.

There is a direct correlation between the economic growth and prosperity of a country, driven by private sector (business) activity, and the well-being of people in terms of income, health, education, etc. It's fairly simple: businesses are willing to take risks and invest because they have confidence in the government and the enabling environment. Otherwise they'll take a defensive position or go elsewhere where they'll feel safe to invest.

I could say a lot more about this but it gives you a flavor of how I'm having to calibrate my knowledge and experience. On one hand I shake my head in disbelief at the enormous obstacles, and on the other hand I'm confident we can find a way through the obstacles to create a sound strategy. I'm totally inspired that I get to play a role in shaping long-term, sustainable strategies that can and will affect so many people. And I believe we can make an effective impact even in the face of these, and other, adverse enabling environmental factors.

I'm moved, daily, as I see people in their struggle to make ends meet.

Laborers working on construction projects earning 3,000 Riel - about $0.75 - for an entire day's labor is a shocking reality. Driving to the airport to pick up Lizzy last night I saw many buildings under construction and there in the darkness of the massive concrete skeletons, the workers huddled together in their makeshift homes, resting before the next day's work.

A young boy, probably 9 years old, slides under my table at the restaurant with a beat up shoe brush, grabs my foot and vigorously shines my sandals.

Two little girls come up to our breakfast table, not more than 6 and 8 years old, with wide eyes locked onto the food that remained on our finished plates, and the satisfied smiles as they emerge from under the table after having feasted on our leftovers.

Daily images of life in Cambodia challenge my sense of fairness in the world and fuel my sense of purpose of why I'm here and, I suspect, why there are so many others from around the globe who are making Cambodia their home away from home for awhile. There is much work to be done.