Young people shine participating in construction of BRI in Cambodia

After graduating from college, Yue Xiduo, a man born in the 1990s, joined a tire company in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia. The man said he chose to work here because the special economic zone is an important project for a country along the Belt and Road, and that he feels comfortable working here.

Workers commute to and from the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone on motorcycles. (China Daily/Lin Shujuan) 

Wuxi city in east China's Jiangsu Province and Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk Province have long been committed to the construction of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, trying to turn it into a platform of cross-border investment for enterprises from all over the world. Many Chinese companies have settled in the special economic zone, which is able to provide nearly 30,000 jobs. More than 1,000 Chinese work here.

The production base of Yue's company is able to produce 5 million tires for high-capacity passenger cars and 900,000 tires for trucks and passenger buses. After it enters full production, the production base is expected to help the company increase its sales by an estimated $350 million, use about 30,000 tonnes of natural rubber, and create 1,600 jobs for the local community.

Yue said the company's factory boasts of mature automation and information technologies, and his job is effectively facilitated by automated equipment. He is committed to researching relevant technologies and hopes that he can become a good technician.

Tian Haiyun, a woman born after 2000 in southwest China's Yunnan Province, graduated from college last year. Majoring in the Cambodian language, she is a translator in Cambodia who earns more than 10,000 yuan ($1,393.07) a month.

Tian's elder sister, who majored in the Myanmar language as an undergraduate student, told her younger sister that since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed, China has been engaged in cooperation with countries along the route, and Southeast Asian countries provide a broad employment prospect and many opportunities. She encouraged her younger sister to chase her dream by integrating in the construction of the BRI.

Students attend a language class at Sihanoukville Institute of Business and Technology located in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. (China Daily/Lin Shujuan) 

The Sihanoukville Institute of Business and Technology, formerly a training center of the Vocational Institute of Commerce in Wuxi, was established four years ago. It is Cambodia's first higher education institution featuring Chinese.

Li Chuanbin, the executive dean of the institute, recalled that in the past, Cambodians mainly spoke the Cambodian language or English. After the BRI was proposed, Chinese companies started to settle in Cambodia and create jobs for the local community. Because of this, the Chinese language has been more and more used in Cambodia.

In 2021, the Vocational Institute of Commerce in Wuxi opened a training center in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, providing training for Cambodian workers who were willing to learn the Chinese language and offering professional and technical guidance to Chinese staff members of companies in the zone.

Anna, a Cambodian woman studying at the institute, who is also a translator of a company in the special economic zone, comes to the institute to learn professional knowledge at night or on weekends. Her Chinese language proficiency has rapidly improved. Besides Chinese, Anna also takes up subjects related to computer science.

Over the past four years, the Sihanoukville Institute of Business and Technology has enrolled 112 students. The students could earn an average monthly salary of $200 in the first year of studies at the institute. As they improve their Chinese language proficiency and learn many other subjects, their average monthly salary doubles in the second year at the school. Some students could earn $800 a month.

The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone has gradually become a bridge for exchanges and cooperation between Jiangsu Province and Preah Sihanouk Province in many fields like economy and trade, education and culture.