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Keynote Address
at theGround Breaking of the
Construction of Charey-Phnom Penh Hospital, Boeung Snor Village, Nirouth
Commune, Meanchey District
Phnom Penh, May 15, 2010
Your
Venerable Head of Monks,
Your
Venerable Monks
Your
Excellency LE KHA PHIEU, Former Secretary General of the Communist Part
of Vietnam and the delegates,
Excellencies,
Oknhas, Distinguished National and International Guests,
Dear the
Compatriots,
Today it
is my pleasure to attend the “Ground Breaking of the Construction of Charey-Phnom
Penh Hospital”. The hospital indeed attests to the strong cooperation
between the Kingdom of Cambodia and Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Taking
this opportunity, on behalf of the people and Royal Government of Cambodia I
would like to convey profound gratitude to the people and government of Vietnam,
through H.E. LE KHA PHIEU, former secretary general of the Communist
Party of Vietnam, for the support given to Cambodia during hardship and its
contribution in socio-economic development and poverty reduction in Cambodia.
Following the victory against the Pol Pot Regime on 7 January 1979, Cambodia
strived to overcome thousands of problems, including the restoration and
development of health sector destroyed by the war. Starting from scratch left by
the war, we managed to build and run health centers in communes, districts, and
municipalities/provinces to provide consultation, health care and treatment
services to the people.
Both
countries have been working closely in all sectors, including bilateral
cooperation and investment, trade, road-bridge infrastructure, agriculture
development, education, mine and energy and so forth. These reflect the actual
needs of Cambodian people and create a favorable condition for Cambodia’s
integration into the region and the globe on egalitarian status. During the
global crisis, Vietnam ranked first in terms of FDI flow to Cambodia. Last year,
Vietnamese investors invested around USD 900 million in Cambodia. Trade between
both countries reached USD 2 billion in 2009; the figure may exceed USD 2
billion in 2010.
According to H.E. Mom BunHeng, Minister of Health, the groundbreaking of
the construction of Charey-Phnom Penh hospital is another important event as
Cambodia soon will have an international hospital and Cambodian people will have
access to quality health services provided domestically. This will not only
boost confidence on the quality of health services, but also economic efficiency
and reputation of the country.
This
achievement will represent another contribution in health sector from the people
and government of Vietnam as Cambodia is striving to improve both accessibility
and quality of health services. This also reflects improved public-private
partnership since we regard private participation as Engine of Growth and
a priceless achievement in social welfare and public health in Cambodia.
Cambodia
is building a concrete foundation to underpin growth in the long run. In
particular, the Royal Government has been implementing Health Sector Development
Plan 2008 – 2015 to improve accessibility and quality of health services and
behavior of health service providers, ensure sufficient capital flow, strengthen
medical staff’s competency, improve health information system for better health
financing and governance, management of medical equipments and medicines and
regulation of pharmaceutical and medical services provided by the private
sector.
The Royal Government has been
working hard to assure a favorable business climate that is stable, transparent
and predictable for the growth of private sector. On this basis, it has been
actively implementing some key policies to promote private-government
partnership, facilitate trade, strengthen investment climate, ensure
participation of private sector in infrastructure development, and strengthen
partnership in health sector especially with development partners to enhance
effectiveness of health service delivery. This will translate into poverty
reduction and socio-economic development as well as attainment of the spirit of
the Rectangular Strategy i.e. growth, employment, equity and efficiency.
In this connection, on behalf
of the Royal Government, I would like to compliment Ho Chi Minh City Medical
Investment Joint Stock Company and Sok Kong Import Export Co. Ltd on their joint
effort with Phnom Penh Municipality and local authority to turn this project
into a prideful reality.
Undeniably, utilizing
appropriate medical equipment for diagnosis and treatment could address some
health challenges in both the present and future time. Therefore, investment in
modern medical technologies—modern tools, equipments and facilities—is very
important and a key component to enhance service quality. Even with individuals’
competency, technology per se is not enough. Quality of service depends on some
other essential aspects such as prevention of infection, hygiene and good
environment in hospitals as well as professionalism in treatment. In this
regard, we should place attention on human resource factor and provide training
to physicians, doctors and skilled staff to acquire new knowledge and technology
and to double effectiveness of health services.
Physician and medical staff,
whose obligation is to deliver treatment and health care services must improve
their attitude and follow the professional code of conduct when communicating
with and providing treatment and health care services to patients. Undoubtedly,
this work must base on technical principle, virtue, good conduct and firm stand
as a dependable guardian of patients. Moreover, each hospital should continue to
promote medical research and strengthen cooperation with medical universities,
private sector, NGOs, professional associations and research unit of the Health
Ministry to share experiences and development of this field. Moreover, I would
like to urge all hospitals and clinics not to use counterfeit medicines and
medical equipments, which may exacerbate illness of patients.
In short, by providing
responsible health care services, we could change the attitude of patients
seeking consultation, diagnosis, treatment and care services, which lead to the
improvement, confidence and economic efficiency of public health in Cambodia.
This will genuinely contribute to economic growth and better reputation of the
country.
In addition to existing
achievements, Cambodia needs more contribution from development partners and
private sector for development and investment in health sector to improve
welfare as a whole. Moreover, there are big potentials for investment in some
sectors including agriculture, agro-industry, infrastructure, labor-intensive
manufacturing, export-oriented industry, oil, natural gas, mining and tourism.
Those potentials have not been fully tapped and represent a great opportunity
for investors. Furthermore, development cooperation Asean-Mekong opens up even
more. Therefore, I am pleased to urge Vietnamese investors to come to assess the
possibility of investment and discuss with Cambodian partners. I strongly
believe that Vietnamese investors and businessmen will be successful in turning
opportunities in Cambodia into successful investment projects such as rubber
processing, fertilize production, hydro-electricity power plant,
telecommunication, banking and finance, mining, tourism and civil aviation. In
this light, on behalf of the Royal Government, as always, I declare the openness
of Cambodia’s economy for all investors with no racial discrimination and
continue to offer a favorable climate for investment to accelerate growth.
Once again, I would to
encourage cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City Medical Investment Joint Stock
Company and Sok Kong Import Export Co. Ltd as well as all levels of local
authorities to complete the construction of this hospital as planned. Moreover,
this hospital must take part to realize the vision of Cambodia Health Sector
Development, especially with regard to restoration and expansion of physical
infrastructure as well as institutional and human capacity development to expand
the coverage of health service delivery and respond to people’s needs. In this
spirit, I strongly hope that Vietnam will boost the bilateral cooperation and
jointly seek new opportunities for prosperity and long amity tie of both
countries.
Finally, along with the ground
breaking for the construction of Charey-Phnom Penh Hospital, I would like to
wish your venerable monks, His Excellency LE KHA PHIEU and delegates,
Excellencies, Oknhas, ladies and gentlemen, and all the compatriots four gems of
Buddhist blessing.
Thank you for
your attention!
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