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Keynote Address at the 2nd Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF)
Phnom Penh, 4th December 2008
Excellency Chairman of the Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum,
Excellencies Distinguished Representatives of Development Partner Countries and
Agencies,
Excellencies Members of the Royal Government of Cambodia
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen !
1. Today, I am very honored and
pleased to meet once again the distinguished representatives of the
international community and development partners. I would like to express my
warm welcome to Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, and my profound
gratitude for your participation in this “2ndCambodia Development Cooperation
Forum-CDCF”. This is the first CDCF meeting for the new Royal Government of
Cambodia for the Fourth Legislature of the National Assembly.
2. At the outset, I would like to
thank once again all our compatriots for the confidence they bestow on me, for
the fourth time, at the recent general elections held on 27th July 2008 to
continue leading the country. This trust bestowed upon me is the testimony of
the great honor and faithfulness for me to serve our nation and beloved people
as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Indeed, the election result
also reflects the strong will and the necessary support for me from an
overwhelming majority of Cambodians from all walks of life to continue leading
the country on the path of development and reforms in all sectors towards
progress and prosperity as stated in the political platform of Cambodian
People’s Party, submitted to all Cambodians for their consideration before the
elections and subsequently become the “Political Platform” of the Royal
Government for the 4th Legislature.
3. Based on this political platform,
the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), established by the genuine will of the
citizens, is steadfastly determined to continue fulfilling its mandate with high
accountability by putting the national interests and the aspirations of the
people on top of all for the noble cause of poverty reduction and socio-economic
development. In this spirit, as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, I
have laid out and committed to a successful implementation of the “Rectangular
Strategy-Phase II” for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency in Cambodia
which is the “Socio-economic policy agenda” of the “Political Platform” of the
Royal Government of the Fourth Legislature of the National Assembly.
4. The implementation of the
Rectangular Strategy during the Third Legislature resulted in major
achievements. This has had a positive impact on the enhanced social fabrics, the
culture of peace, security, social safety, democracy in Cambodia. They also
provide the RGC with the opportunity to promote decentralization and
de-concentration and continue strict implementation of the reform programs in
other sectors. At the same time, peace, political stability and liberalization
have taken firm roots in Cambodia, creating conditions for maintaining
macroeconomic stability and attracting investment, which are crucial for
sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Moreover, the economic
achievements have also been attributable to the efforts to build the capacity of
state institutions and rigorous implementation of socio-economic development
policies, with full support from the Cambodian people, cooperation from
development partners and active participation of the private sector. Taking this
opportunity, on behalf of the Royal Government and the people of Cambodia, I
would like to express my most sincere appreciation to all development partners
including the private sector for their priceless and substantial contribution to
the development of Cambodia. We are confident that all development partners will
indefinitely maintain such cooperation in the future.
5. Like during the previous
meetings, we attend this “2nd Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum-CDCF” not
just only to take stock of the achievements, progress and review our reform
activities over the past, but also we will discuss key aspects of our strategies
and development paradigm in order to accelerate the development of Cambodia in
the future. In this regard, may I briefly summarize a number of key achievements
we have made so far, and highlight a number of key challenges that we are
facing, and make suggestions and recommendations, laying out policy measures
adopted by the Royal Government to address your concerns as well as to seek
further supports from all our cooperative partners.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
6. The RGC still considers good governance as prerequisite to ensure
sustainable development, equity, and social justice. Indeed, Good Governance
requires wide participation from all stakeholders, widely shared information,
accountability, and transparency, equal rights before the law and respect for
the rules of law. In sum, good governance is the requirement of the Cambodian
society at present and in the future.
7. The RGC has strengthened good governance through public
administration reform, legal and judicial reform, capacity building and public
sector efficiency, including fighting corruption in many other areas such as the
accelerated implementation of the Public Financial Management Reform Program and
Public Administration Reform including decentralization and de-concentration.
8. The Royal Government of the Third Legislature has taken numerous
practical measures to tackle corruption. In this regard, even in the absence of
the Anti-Corruption Law, the Royal Government has vigorously combated corruption
through the introduction of Governance Action Plan and the adoption and
implementation of a number of measures such as Law on Public Financial System,
Law on Customs, Sub-decree on Public Procurement, Government circular on the
Management of Non-tax Revenues, and the Code of Conduct and Ethics for Customs
Officials. At the same time, the control mechanism of the National Audit
Authority and the Department of Inspection, were strengthened. Internal Audit
mechanisms were established in all ministries/institutions. The Anti-Corruption
body has been strengthened and administrative and legal actions have been taken
against officials found indulging in corrupt practices and punishment meted out.
9. The RGC is well aware that the Anti-Corruption Law is an
indispensible legal instrument to fight corruption effectively. In this context,
the Royal Government is strongly committed to ensure rapid conclusion and
adoption of this law in close consultation with all concerned parties on the
basis of all other fundamental laws that must be adopted first. The Royal
Government has made improvement in the legal and judicial systems, by focusing
on the development of a sound legal framework and enhancing professional
capacity, independence and neutrality of the judiciary, which are crucial for
strengthening the rule of law. In the Third Legislature, a total of 140 laws
were promulgated including three major codes– the Criminal Procedure Code, the
Civil Procedure Code and the Civil Code. At the same time, disciplinary
sanctions have been carried out by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, while
enhancing the competency and accountability of judges through initial and
continuous training and the adoption of the Codes of Ethics for Judges and
Prosecutors. The Center for Legal Services was established in a number of
districts in order to institutionalize dispute resolution mechanisms outside the
court system in Cambodia in order to reduce the backlogs at the courts.
10. The Royal Government has launched Priority Mission Groups (PMGs) in a
number of ministries and agencies in order to strengthen management capacity of
our institutions, introduced selection criteria and competitive examinations for
the recruitment of new government officials, increased social security and
functional allowances, and piloted the Merit-based Payment Initiative (MBPI)
aiming at improving the efficiency, transparency and the responsibility of the
public services. The “Single Window” mechanism has been launched to facilitate
the public service users while embarked on the decentralization of public
services at commune/sangkat level and introduction of IT-based public services.
The Public Financial Management reform has enabled the Royal Government to
achieve budget credibility through improved revenue collection and expenditure
rationalization. This has made possible the increase in average monthly salaries
from 30 USD in 2004 to 62.4 USD in 2008, a more than two fold increase.
11. In the Fourth Legislature, the Royal Government will continue to
expand the coverage of the PMGs and MBPI to a number of priority ministries and
agencies, in order to deepen nationwide sectoral reform programs. The Royal
Government will pursue the policy of a 20-% per annum increase in base salary,
compared to 10-15% in the Third Legislature. The Royal Government will continue
to enhance the efficient use of information technology; strengthen the
management and the development of capacity for government officials; increase
the role and proactive participation of women in public administration; enhance
the provision of basic public services, government sovereignty services,
investment-related services, as well as provide support for small and medium
businesses through the implementation of the “Single Window” mechanism; and the
establishment of Ombudsman office. The Royal Government will also set up new
mechanisms in providing public services through the creation of the "Special
Operating Agency (SOA)" in a number of ministries and agencies, and will
encourage the civil society and THE private sector to participate directly in
providing public services.
12. The Royal Government will further pursue the implementation of
Decentralization and De-concentration policy by developing legal and regulatory
framework and new measures to ensure effective implementation of the "Organic
Law on the Administrative Management of the Capital, Provinces, Municipalities,
Districts and Khans", especially the development and implementation of the legal
and regulatory framework related to the transfer of power from the national to
sub-national administrations by clearly identifying their role,
responsibilities, power, and accountability. This law will be carefully
implemented in phases. Each ministry and agency should prepare concrete Action
Plans for the delegation of power and functions to the sub-national levels.
De-concentration of financial management will also be implemented in a phased
and flexible manner over the medium term to allow for the capacity building in
public financial management at the sub national levels. The National Committee
on Sub-National Democratic Development is preparing a 10-year National
Implementation Program.
13. In the Fourth Legislature, the Royal Government will continue to
reform the armed forces to ensure effective defense of sovereignty, territorial
integrity, security and social order of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
14. In the Third Legislature, the Royal Government has ensured stable
macroeconomic management and socio-economic development.
15. However, the second CDCF has been organized against the backdrop of
deepened and widespread global financial crisis. The financial crisis which has
initially started in the United States and spread out to other developed
countries shows the unforeseeable world economic recession, as the world had
experienced during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
16. Nevertheless, since mid-2008, even though the world faced the hike of
oil and food prices, the Cambodian economy still maintains high growth, albeit
at lower pace.
17. In the banking and financial sectors, Cambodia’s banks remain sound and
this not much concern. This outcome reflected the Royal Government’s
well-designed package measures in anticipation of the crisis, including monetary
policy and supporting policies, namely increasing the reserve requirements and
minimum registered capital for commercial banks, and introducing credit ceiling
in the real estate sector. Moreover, the banking and financial sectors in
Cambodia are not seriously affected by global financial cataclysm, because
Cambodia’s banks are not widely exposed to the international financial system.
In particular the operations of the Cambodian commercial banks are based on
domestic deposits. Furthermore, Cambodia does not have the stock market yet.
18. The real GDP growth is projected to be around 7% in 2008. This growth
rate is slightly lower than the previous years. Cambodia experienced its highest
growth at 13.3% in 2005 and then decreased to 10.8% in 2006 and 10.2% in 2007.
This helps reduce the poverty rate from 47% in 1994 to 35% in 2004. The rate is
projected to drop to 30% in 2007. The survey showed that the poverty rate
declined by 1% percent per annum.
19. The industry sector is projected to increase by 5.6% in 2008 at constant
price. The industry sector, in general, has been increasing very fast. The share
of this sector increased to 28.9% in 2008, more than double compared to 12.7% in
1993. This reflects the progress of the industry, especially the development of
the garment sector. In addition, energy - the important sub-sector for
comparative advantage of the national economy and also the key to national
development, has been making considerable progress which could ensure that
Cambodia would have sufficient energy with reasonable price. By the year 2030,
Cambodia expects to have the electricity of up to 70% to 100% through the
increase in local production and imports of electricity from neighboring
countries including Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. This means that the power
system in Cambodia will be integrated into the system of GMS and ASEAN.
20. Although the share of the agriculture sector has been decreasing, its
overall progress is still substantial. In 2008, the agriculture sector growth
reached 3.5%, at constant price, in which the rice production increased more
than expected. The agriculture sector has achieved high and sustainable growth
rate since the 3rd Legislature of the National Assembly due to the improvement
in water policies and agricultural technologies that could accommodate to the
change in natural factors. The improvement in agriculture sector is the key to
poverty reduction as well as contributing considerably to the growth of gross
domestic product and macro-economy.
21. In general, the agricultural land has been restored to exceed the level
of the pre-war period and the rice yield has increased 2.5 times compared to the
period before the war. The agriculture sector in Cambodia has been gradually
modernized through the increase in the use of fertilizers and the highly
productive seeds. The value added growth in agriculture has increased in average
of 7.2% per annum between 2003-2007, compared to 1.6% between 1998-2002, and
4.9% between 1993-1997. Rice yield substantially increased to 2.5 tons per
hectare in 2007.
22. Land reform is the most sensitive area, due to the outstanding issues in
the past. In implementing the land law and policies, the Royal Government has
paid more attention to the measures of strengthening the system of land
management, distribution and use and land ownership, land rights security,
eradication of illegal land encroachment, and by taking proper measures to
prevent the concentration of unused and unproductive lands. The systematic land
registration has been greatly welcomed by the rural people. In fact, we have
provided more than 1 million of land titles so far. Starting from 1992 to
February 2008, we have cleared more than 20,000 hectares of landmines; and the
dangers caused by landmines have been reduced by 1.5 times from 800 cases in
2003 to 315 cases in 2007.
23. The forestry and fishery sectors reforms have been actively implemented
in order to maintain the efficiency of management and sustainable development of
natural resources. The Royal Government has effectively and efficiently
prevented illegal logging and has reviewed all forest land concessions. 264
forestry communities have been created to cover the land surface of nearly
180,000 hectares in order to help protect this valuable property and about 400
fishery communities have been created in the field of fisheries. The national
water resources policy is one of the extensive projects providing the base for
protection, managing and using fresh and salty water with sustainability, equity
to serve the public interest more efficiently. About 27% of the total farmland
is now irrigated. It is estimated that, the irrigation facilities may have the
potential to cover about 65% of farmland. If we can further expand the
irrigation coverage, the land productivity will be increased and then Cambodia
could actually become the rice basket in the region. Therefore, the Royal
Government has paid high attention to the restoration and renovation of
irrigation facilities and water drainage system, especially in the areas with
extreme poverty and in the border areas. The members of water user communities
have increased and the women participation has also been further enlarged.
24. The share of the service sector has been stable at around 38% and the
sector is projected to grow by 7.2% in the year 2008. The tourism sector has
continued to grow, in which the number of foreign tourists may increase about
10% in 2008. The fast growing and systematic nature of the tourism sector has
become the second pillar of economic growth, after garment, providing employment
opportunities to a large number of Cambodian people. In fact, in the support for
the sector, the Royal Government has taken serious strides to improve the
physical infrastructures such as road systems, airports, sea ports, clean water
systems and electricity as well as to provide the environment of peace, safety
and social order, which have been favorable to increase the number of tourist
arrivals and prolong their stay in Cambodia.
25. Based on the growth highlighted above, the income per capita in 2008 is
around 625 USD, which increased in average of 9.5% per annum starting from
1999. The increase in income has contributed to the increase in savings for
public and private investment which requires about 22% of the GDP annually in
order to achieve annual economic growth of 9.5%. The Royal Government has
strictly and carefully managed inflation by keeping it low for many years.
However, in 2008 the annual inflation rate increased by more than 20% in the 1st
Semester due to the pressure from the high prices of oil, consumer goods and
food, as well as the depreciation of the US dollars. The inflation pressure
eased at the end of 2nd Semester in 2008, resulting in an estimate of about 15%
of inflation in 2008 and this rate will continue to decrease to a single digit
of about 7% in 2009. Along with that, the monetary and exchange rate policies
have been carefully implemented in an attempt to curb inflation and ensure
macro-economic stability. The national reserve has increased up to more than USD
2 billion, which can ensure about 3.3 months of imports of goods and services
for domestic consumption.
26. After the implementation of the public financial management reform, the
budget revenue has increased in average of 26% per annum. The Royal Government
has reversed the budget execution from the one with a chronic cash deficit to
cash surplus by making budget more reliable. Through the implementation of the
public financial management reform since 2004 together with the implementation
of other significant reforms during 2004-2008, the revenue from customs and
taxes have been collected through banking system, and the payment from the
treasury to suppliers have been done through cheques, budget arrears have been
cleared, procurement process has been improved and the internal auditing
department in each ministries/institutions have also been strengthened. Along
with that, we have improved the efficiency and equity in budget division by
increasing the expenditure on the socio-economic development, especially in the
sectors of physical infrastructure, education, health and agriculture and have
further increased the rationale and efficiency of public spending, which is the
crucial factor for strengthening our public services and reducing our people’s
poverty.
27. The Royal Government will continue to deeply implement the “Public
Financial Management Reform Program”, especially the PFM Platform Two, which has
been officially launched yesterday in order to strengthen the efficiency of the
national budget, the key instrument for implementing the development policy of
the Royal Government. In this sense, the Royal Government will continue to
adhere to the discipline of public financial management in conformity to the
provisions of law on public financial system. The Royal Government continues to
strengthen strict management of state property according to the effective law
and regulations by effectively implementing the measures to strengthen the
revenue collection, all sorts of state property management as well as continuing
to improve the efficiency, transparency and accountability of the management of
public institutions and enterprises. The Royal Government is committed to
effectively manage the revenues from the exploitation of minerals, oil and
gas.
28. Moreover, the Royal Government of Cambodia has successfully
implemented the action plan as set out in the “Financial Development Plan and
Visions for 2001- 2010”, and has updated it to become the “Financial Development
Strategy for 2006-2015” with the strong commitment to continue implementing this
strategy in order to achieve the results as expected.
29. The Royal Government of Cambodia has continued to restore and build
some main physical infrastructures and created an enabling environment, which is
stable and manageable, to attract and promote private investment. Ideally, the
increase in national revenues allows us to increase capital expenditure for more
investments in physical infrastructures such as transportation and irrigation,
social and human resources development which are the main factors to create a
sound environment to enhance and ensure the sustainability of growth and also to
facilitate the redistribution of this growth more extensively. Since 1999, The
Royal Government has increased the expenditure for socio-economic
infrastructures. However, there is considerable demand and potential of
agriculture and water resources sectors in Cambodia. We must spend more on the
improvement and development of related socio-economic infrastructures, such as
roads, bridges, railways, waterways, sea ports and airports, rural electricity
supply and clean water distribution network, schools, and public health centers
etc. Therefore, in the medium term, investments in all infrastructures are still
the priorities of the Royal Government and we will warmly welcome the generous
contributions from our development partners.
30. The
Royal Government has achieved a remarkable progress in the development of the
private sector through improving the institutional mechanism, legal and
regulatory framework. The Royal Government has strengthened the “Single Window”
approach for the investment sector, and has been successful in the areas of
trade facilitation and investment including the time reduction in applying for
investment permit, clear valuation of public service fees, reducing the
requirements on certificates of origin and inspections, the requirements for
licenses, the outlining of inter-ministries procedures for goods inspection,
implementing the risk management system and customs and excise automation,
reducing the informal fees for the administration processes, and setting out the
legal standard and institutional mechanism to develop and manage the Special
Economic Zone (SEZ) etc.
31. The
Royal Government considers the private sector as the engine for economic growth
and the RGC is playing both the strategist role to create enabling business
environment for the private sector and the manager role for development. Based
on this philosophy, the Royal Government authorizes the private sector to invest
in infrastructures in the form of BOT (Build Operate and Transfer), leading to
the improvement in transportation infrastructure. For instance, by 2007, the
Royal Government has authorized 17 companies to invest in BOT with the
registered capital of 77.5 million USD and assets of 588 USD.
32. In
this connection, the Royal Government has produced a number of necessary legal
frameworks to support the private sector development. The Government-Private
Sector Forum has become the effective mechanism to address common issues of the
Royal Government and the private sector. Trade facilitation reform has reduced
bureaucracy, which is the important step in promoting private businesses;
especially in the last few years, the process of registration has been
simplified. The fee for this registration was reduced from 630 USD in 2004 to
117 USD at present. Moreover, the “Single-Window” service was initiated and
implemented in the Special Economic Zone such as in Bavet. The implementation of
“Single Administrative Document (SAD)” and “Single-Window” has benefited SMEs
development. The Royal Government has reduced the minimum capital requirements
for the registration of SME from 5,000 USD to 1,000 USD with the only 177 USD
for registration fee. The General Department of Taxation has simplified the
reporting process in order to develop SMEs.
33. The
Royal Government has enhanced the IT development with high quality in conforming
to the international standard, with reasonable price and country wide coverage.
According to the Royal Government’s Rectangular Strategy, two heavy IT projects,
IT for administration and E-Government, have been implemented. The main
objective is to connect more closely between citizen, business people and the
government.
34. The education sector development has
moved into new phase by focusing on fundamental education and its quality in the
context of national economic development which is more systematic. For the long
term vision, the Royal Government has linked education strategy with the poverty
reduction strategy through integrating educational financial planning with the
public expenditure management. Indeed, during the last few years, many
educational institutions were established and issues of education quality and
living standard of teachers were prioritized and taken into account according to
the scope of economic growth. The Government of the 3rd Legislature has
published the “Educational Strategic Plan for 2006-2010” which is a component of
the Government’s “Rectangular Strategy” and the “National Strategic Development
Plan 2006-2010”. The objective of this strategy is to ensure that all Cambodian
children and adults have equal opportunities in receiving the basic formal and
informal education without discriminating against races, colors, gender,
languages, religions, political tendencies, origin and social status. Morally,
this strategic plan is connected to the education of the culture of peace,
respect for human rights, legal and democratic principles and justice by
fighting against violence, drug use, children and women trafficking and all
types of discriminations in the society. These reflect the notion of “Education
for All and All for Education” which illustrated the implementation of chapter 6
of the constitutional law on the equal rights of all people.
35. In undertaking this strategy, the Royal Government has made significant
progress in ensuring equity in the 9-year basic education for all children. The
number of schools increased by 30% from 6,963 in 2003-2004 to 9,108 in 2006-2007
academic year. Enrolment rate also climbs in all levels of schooling. The number
of scholarships provided to poor students at secondary level rises to 45,754, of
which female students account for 63.2%. The number of teaching staff increases
from 73,642 in 2003-2004 to 78,606 in 2006-2007 academic year.
36. Since the 1990s when the Royal Government introduced the policy of
private schools, the number of secondary schools and higher education
institutions has increased significantly. Currently, there are 66 higher
education institutions, of which 24 are public higher education institutions and
42 are private institutions. Along with this, government’s expenditure for the
education sector has risen substantially. The current budget for education
sector in 2007 is nearly twice the 2003 figure, increasing from 300 to 456
billion riels, equivalent to the increase from 17.1% to 19.2% of the total
current budget.
37. In the health sector, the Royal Government gives priority to the
timely prevention and tackling of all kinds of epidemic diseases, people’s
healthcare and nutrition; and regard people’s well-being as the prerequisite to
human resource and sustainable socio-economic development. The Royal Government
has strived to improve the overall people’s welfare, especially for the poor,
women and children by providing support to improve health services to ensure
cost-effective, quality and accessible prevention and treatment as well as
strengthening institutional capacity on financial planning, implementing
strategic polices and effective human resource management.
38. As a result, child mortality rate drops from 95 in 2000 to 66 per
1,000 in 2005. The under-five mortality rate also declines during the same
period. Maternal mortality rate also declines from 472 to 437 out of 100,000
births.
39. Women are regarded as the backbone of the national economy and
society. The Royal Government has exerted all efforts to promote the status of
women through the continued implementation of “Neary Rattanak” or “women are
valuable gems” to deliver value and hope to Cambodian women and stress on gender
equity in economic development. The Royal Government gives priority to promoting
the role and social status of women through the implementation of Gender
Mainstreaming Strategy which aims at promoting women’s capacity building,
enhancing women’s ability to participate in education and health sector, and
economic resources, eliminating negative perception and attitudes towards women,
and promoting women’s participation in public affairs, as well as ensuring
women’s rights to allow them to participate actively and equitably in national
development. The Royal Government has firmly implemented various plans and
strategies to ensure women’s rights to health care through the establishment of
community working groups and health care centers as well as through the
provision of instructions on health care and disease prevention and so
forth.
40. Moreover, enhancing women’s standard of living, especially unemployed and
handicapped women, is the priority of Gender Mainstreaming Strategy. Women
development centers have been expanded to 8 provinces to train local women by
providing training on the basis of market demand and small enterprises. Business
development service (BDS) has been established for rural women and small
entrepreneurship. The Royal Government also monitors closely the enforcement of
employment-related laws and regulations to protect women at work.
41. Along with this, to tackle violence against women, the Law on the
Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims was adopted in
2005. This law effectively and timely provides legal protection to victims, of
which women and children account for the majority. The Royal Government has
exerted all efforts to fight women and children trafficking since 2006. The Law
on Anti-trafficking was also passed in 2008. The national plan of preventing
domestic violence is being prepared to promote awareness and the implementation
of women-related laws.
42. Along with the above achievements, Cambodia is also facing some
challenges. In particular, the quality and efficiency of public services are
still limited and unable to respond to the actual demand. The quality of public
health services has not reached a satisfied level. Health care and rural
sanitation services as well as the supply of clean water in rural areas are
below the targets set in MDGs. Judicial institutions have not fully attract
confidence from the public; the coverage of legal framework is not
comprehensive; and law enforcement also needs to be improved.
43. The base of economic growth which relies mainly on 4 pillars, namely
garment, tourism, construction, and agriculture sector is still too narrow.
Garment and tourism sector are vulnerable to external factor risks. Agriculture
sector, which contributes 30% to the GDP and employs about 60% of the total
population, has not reached its full potential.
44. Current economic imbalance and global financial crisis have posed a
great challenge for financial situation in all countries in the world. Credit
crunch in investors’ countries adds further pressure to investment which will
result in the disruption of project financing in our county. The decline of
economic growth in developed countries has directly impacted Cambodia’s exports
as the demand drops.
45. Income gap between the poor and the rich, between urban and rural
areas, land concentration and landless people are still on the rising trend.
Moreover, major economic land concessions have not been correctly and fully
utilized. Anarchy in illegal land grabbing, encroachment of state land,
forestland and protection areas, and illegal forest logging still happen in some
places. Along with this, poverty and migration to new lands through illegal land
grabbing have built more pressure to the destruction of natural resources and
this requires the government to take firm measures.
46. Restoring, reconstructing and maintaining physical infrastructure
such as national roads, provincial roads, rural roads, railways, airports,
ports, clean water and electricity network systematically and sustainably still
represents a challenge.
47. The irrigation system has not been sufficiently developed and fully
utilized; this requires further investment and more efficient management.
Financing, management and technologies are still a big challenge for small and
medium enterprises.
48. The domestic electricity price is higher comparing to neighboring
countries, this represents a major obstacle in promoting Cambodia’s
competitiveness as well as investment attractiveness and standard of living. The
coverage of rural electricity access is still too narrow.
49. In general, the quality of education at primary, secondary and higher
education level is still low. The production and trafficking of illegal drugs
have become a social issue which can affect Cambodian youths’ welfare both in
the present and the future. Low education, domestic violence and human
trafficking hinder women from utilizing their full potential to participate in
socio-economic development. Our institutional capacity is still limited due to
low salary and incentives of government officials, whilst the
cross-institutional cooperation is also limited, some legal documents still have
some flaws, and we still lack the necessary resource to implement our policies.
50. The issues that I highlighted above regarding the assessment of our
achievements, challenges, and strategic policy measures to pave the way for
further progress and resolutely step forward have been detailed in the
“Rectangular Strategy-Phase II”. I believe that all development partners have
already received the document. Adding to this, the Royal Government has also
prepared and disseminated at this meeting the Mid-Term Report of the NSDP
2006-2010 which is a similar review of our achievements during the last two
years and identify the challenges and strategies to move forward with firm
determination to overcome all barriers in the cause of poverty reduction and
development. Therefore, I expect that our two-day meeting is an appropriate time
for dialogue on the achievements, as well as deficiencies and challenges we are
facing in order to accelerate Cambodia’s journey towards development and
prosperity.
51. In this context, it is obvious that
“partnership” is an important theme of our two-day forum. Working together,
building up confidence and mutual understanding are the determined factors to
achieve the objectives of the “Rectangular Strategy-Phase II”. Therefore, while
we are mobilizing resources and aligning it to implement the priority action
plans; we need also to ensure that the partnership among all relevant actors to
support the development activities is also effectively progressing forward. This
is the spirit of commitment as stipulated in the Royal Government’s “Rectangular
Strategy-Phase II”, through implementing various principles of the “Accra Agenda
of Action”, endorsed by the heads of development institutions and partner
countries at the Third Summit in September to strengthen country ownership,
leadership, partnership and transparency among all development partners aiming
at strengthening performance-based management. In this regards, I highly
appreciate H.E. Chhieng Yanara, who led a team to prepare the “Cambodia Aid
Effectiveness Report” that highlighted all the challenges facing Cambodia to
deliver development results with those resources.
52. I am pleased to note that there are many
of partners attend today’s forum. The Royal Government welcomes and highly
appreciates the divergent views on development from our partners that can
contribute further to the strengthening of development process in Cambodia. The
effort to strengthen any form of international relations and cooperation with
all partners is becoming increasingly important as Cambodia is working hard to
maintain economic growth and social development against the backdrop of the
global economic recession. I think that the concern for the crisis ahead should
not interrupt the continuous mission of poverty reduction and sustainable
development. On the contrary, we should view this challenge as a valuable lesson
and we have to convert it into opportunity for all relevant partners to
cooperate and support each other for growth and poverty reduction. In this
regards, we have to strongly commit our effort to achieve the MDGs. In this
connection, I would like to propose all development partners to continue
providing supports to Cambodia as usual so that it can attain its MDGs.
53. In responding to the concerted efforts
of our development partners, on behalf of Royal Government of Cambodia, I would
like to assure our commitment on effective, transparent and accountable use of
cooperative resources offered by the development partners. The Royal Government
clearly understands that those resources will not only be used for some key
public services deliveries such as health, education and infrastructure, but
also for human resources and institutional development.
54. The Royal Government highly appreciates
the cooperation and support of all development partners. I strongly hope that we
will continue the cooperation to further enhance the effectiveness of our
partnership aiming at improving our cooperation based upon the principle of
sincere partnership and respect for the “ownership” of Cambodia. We will discuss
this issue in more details; I believe that we will reach an agreement on what we
need to jointly address.
55. Finally, I would like to thank you all
for your attentions. His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, an
experienced and a competent leader, will represent the Royal Government to chair
the 2nd CDCF. My colleagues will be with you to share detail programs and
information on socio-economic aspects and our needs.
56. I wish you good health and success in all
your endeavors and wish this 2nd CDCF to proceed smoothly with success.
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