"I will keep this brief as there's enough hot air in here already without me adding to it," were the amusing opening remarks of Andrew Mitchell, M.P. for the Conservative Party, referencing the power cut that momentarily took out the air conditioning system at the latest BBAC meeting.
Coming to Cambodia as the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Mr. Mitchell highlighted that international development is the 'issue of the age.' Referring to the Millennium Development Goals, Mr. Mitchell demonstrated that more support and pressure is required if the world has any hope of achieving the eight goals accorded by world leaders in 2000.
Proudly acknowledging that international development is a British priority, the MP cited that all British parties have agreed to give 7% of gross national income to development.
"This is an enormous amount of money and we must ensure it is spent well."
Coming to Cambodia to learn how best to spend this money once the Conservative Party is elected back into power, Mr. Mitchell and his team met with World Vision to discuss their vision for Cambodia, with a special emphasis on the disabled poor.
"If you are poor and disabled you bear twice the burden. If one-third of the 73million children with no access to education are disabled then what are their real life chances? Meager."
For Mitchell, there are three main areas of focus for British policies on international development.
The first is Conflict Resolution. Commenting that it is irrelevant how much access to money, aid or trade a country has, conflict will dispossess not only people, money, land but also the development process. Mitchell embellished his point by adding that the real challenge in the realm of international development is to prevent the export of the most able people, disease, pandemics, arms, misery, conflict and terrorism from a war zone.
"The [British] government can do more to support the UN and ensure the legacy of peacekeeping; Britain has the potential to further the progress of peace in conflict states."
The second area of focus is promoting trade and the private sector, both of which, he argued, have the dynamism to lift a country out of poverty. Highlighting the need to break down protective trade barriers as stipulated in the Doha Process, Mitchell referenced India, Vietnam and China as examples of how opening up trade links and encouraging entrepreneurship can advance the society and economy of a country.
Closing his brief talk, Mitchell discussed that 'aid' is his third area of focus. While acknowledging that money is not the only means for a country to break free from the shackles of poverty, he stated that money is needed to build the infrastructure of a country.
"We need money to put those 73million children into schools."
However, governments will only deliver aid to countries that they trust will spend the money wisely; i.e. not to corrupt governments. Inclined to politicians being held accountable to the tax payer, Mitchell cited the recent case of the dismissal of several Ghanaian ministers' over dubious spending of taxpayer's money as an example of an effective public control mechanism.
His concluding comments reiterated that he strives to use this time out of power to learn about and understand the issues that control poverty, so his party can be effective when back in government.
In the Q&A session that followed the M.P. reassured the listeners that currently it is 'a lot less brave to support the Conservative Party than ten years ago.' Mitchell believes that the party has a real chance of winning the 2010 election since changing its terms of trade in the last few years (talking more about the NHS and climate change).
Responding to another question regarding French investment in Cambodia superseding British investment, Mitchell confirmed that he does not believe in tied-aid that cuts off competitors from bidding. He also stressed that Britain, like France, priorities aids to countries that it has strong historical links such as India.
His final comments were spent briefly discussing Burma, from which he received a lively response from his listeners: ASEAN will not be taken seriously until it stops playing lip service to a barbaric regime.