SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.To leave Ho Chi Minh at 9 o’clock in the morning is not an easy and quick thing. Traffic was terrible, millions of motorbikes and cars packed the roads, and there was no other option than to keep pedaling slowly. Compared to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, has many more electric bicycles, these are used primarily by students. It is compulsory to wear a helmet on a motorbike, and they are planning to introduce special regulations for the transport of children, but it seems there are no regulations for using the helmet on a bike, or at least nobody follows them.
Around 3 o’clock I finished all the paperwork and finally got my visa to get into Cambodia. I was shocked when I crossed the border. Was I in Macau, again??  Bavet, the border village with Moc Bai (Vietnam), is full of casinos Macau style, mainly used by Vietnamese and other foreigners. Once you pass through what seems to be a visual illusion, a mirage, you get to the real Cambodia.
Cambodia is the calm country. There are almost no cars, nor trucks, and although motorbikes seem to be winning power on the roads, bicycles and horse drawn vehicles are continuing as the main means of transport. Phnom Pehn the capital is another thing. Like Vietnam, thousands of motorbikes and cars pack the streets.
These two countries Vietnam and Cambodia, are developing quickly, especially Vietnam. Everybody’s dream seems to be a motorbike, or a car if possible. It is only recently that people have been able to afford to buy a motorbike, and as soon as someone gets enough money they run out to buy one. It is perfectly understandable.
It’s a fantastic thing to see how they are progressing, achieving the development of their countries. But although I have nothing to say to their passion to get a motorbike or a car, we did the same in my country years ago, I suggest they look at what happened in the now more developed countries in order not to commit the same mistakes.
If we have a look at the graphics below, we can see that although in Asia there is a great amount of CO2 emissions and a remarkable consumption of electricity, once we go onto the percentage per capita, this is reduced a considerable amount. Over 60 percent of the world’s population lives in Asia.
Crossing Vietnam and Cambodia, I’ve been aware how the new generations are concerned about the environment, and how they have to deal with natural social pressure to achieve what’s is considered successful, to buy a motorbike or a car, as bicycles are transformed into a lower class mean of transport. Educations is a fundamental right that is slowly spreading in the countryside of Asia, especially in Cambodia, thanks to organizations like Schools for Cambodia, most of their children get the benefits of an education. In the education there’s the future of these growing fast countries.
Cambodia CO2 from Electric Bicycle World Tour on Vimeo.
The future generations have the power to learn from already developed countries mistakes and work to develop their own countries in a sustainable way. If they mange to do it, they will have such powerful countries in the near future. Projects like 7 Makara Electric Car or Smart Training Center (first solar powered electric bicycle developed in Cambodia), show how they are working on the right path.
Electric Bicycle World Tour will be visiting 7 Makara Electric Car on it’s way to Thailand.
