Cambodia’s new PM Manet may seek diplomatic space with cooperative style

CAMBODIA’S new prime minister Hun Manet has been carefully groomed by his father and predecessor Hun Sen, who included him in foreign trips and prepared the young man for solo pilgrimages abroad to meet leaders and senior officials of Asean and its dialogue partners.

Manet is not a mystery man in the region, having engaged with its leaders over the past several years. Yet little of the 45-year-old’s thoughts have appeared in the media, mainly because he has continued to avoid interviews.

For our 2013 book on Hun Sen, Strongman: The Extraordinary Life of Hun Sen, my co-author and I interviewed Hun Manet extensively: face to face in Bangkok in April 2003, and later by email.