In a remote corner of Cambodia, Chinese engineers and dam contractors are building a 100 meter high dam in one of  Southeast Asia’s last great wilderness areas. Local villagers and activists protest, but the project plods forward. The AP photo below shows the locals laboring on the project.

China has become the world’s top dam builder. Chinese companies currently have 300 dam projects in various stages of design and construction. They often take on 3rd world projects that Western companies and the World Bank won’t touch because of environmental, social, political or financing concerns.

“China is the one financier able to provide money for projects that don’t meet international standards,” said Ian Baird, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin who has worked in Southeast Asia for decades. “You go to China if you want to have them financed.”

While Westerner experts and locals fret over lost natural habitats and cultures (real and valid concerns), the dams tend to deliver cheap, reliable electricity and improved irrigation opportunities. It’s not surprising to see so many poor countries jumping at the chance to utilize Chinese hydro-power expertise. The Chinese tend to adapt to the standards and  morality of the host country.

“My sense is that when the Chinese build a dam overseas, they give you the standards (the local officials) insist on,” said Kenneth Pomeranz, an expert on water issues at the University of Chicago. “When governments say, `We want it done right,’ they know how to do that too.”

Whether the dam boom is right or wrong, I don’t know. But it’s real, it’s happening and it’s going to get stronger. Better power in these countries will often propel many other increased business opportunities. Perhaps you see something in this trend that can help you.