Some Cambodians who work in Japan, they got jobs there after graduated from university in Japan. But there are also others who worked in Cambodia first, and then utilize the skills honed in Cambodia to work in Japan. We interviewed 2 Cambodians working in Japan.

Using IT to connect Cambodia and Japan

Profile

Mr. BOU Ty

Senior ICT Systems Engineer The United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability

Born in Kratié Province in 1978 (40 years old). Gradutated degree of computer science from The Royal University of Phnom Penh in 1999. From 2000 worked in Cambodian Mine Action Center and JICA Cambodia as an IT consultant on communication network services. Relocated to Japan in 2002 and worked for a Canon related company, and then moved to R&D dept. to work as software developer. In 2012 commenced current position.

Q. What kind of work is being done at the UNU?

I am responsible for the procurement of IT equipment and software necessary for building the network infrastructure of the UNU head office and related organizations. The work can be conducted remotely, so commuting is flexible. However, you have to deal with the problems that occur 24 hours a day, no matter where you are.

Q. What difficulties did you experience while working in Japan?

The biggest issue was language, and expressing myself to other people. When I first worked in a Japanese company, the colleagues could not speak English,I could not speak Japanese, so there was a big barrier. At meetings we had to state our own ideas – I could not get across the message I wanted to. Also, I was inexperienced technically at the beginning. In my current workplace, the language used is English, so its easier than before.

Q. In the future what kind of things would you like to do for Cambodia?

I would like to contribute to development of the agricultural industry through the use of information and communication technologies. I’d like to use ICT to connect the producers in the agricultural industry with the consumers. To this end, I’ve actually made a site called “KaseMall”.

It’s aim is to allow producers to display their produce and find a market.