- Samdech Vibol Sena Pheakdei Say Chhum, President of the Senate of Cambodia;
- Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei Heng Samrin, President of National Assembly of Cambodia, and President of the 27th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum;
- Excellencies, Delegates of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum member countries;
- Excellencies, Distinguished National and International Guests!
On behalf of the Royal Government and People of Cambodia, I am very delighted to participate in the opening ceremony of the 27th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) under the topic of Strengthening Parliamentary Partnership for Peace, Security and Sustainable Development, which is organized at this moment.
I would like to welcome all delegates of APPF organization member countries, observation countries, and all partner organizations as well as excellencies, ladies and gentlemen and distinguished national and international guests, who have arrived at the land of Angkor of Siem Reap Province that is the famous historical region for Cambodia.
The Royal Government and People of Cambodia are honored to be the host for the first time of the 27th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum in order to jointly discuss about political situation, socio-economy, and global challenges to enhance international relations and congress diplomacy, particularly the regional economic and cultural cooperation in order to achieve peace and sustainable development.
In this solemn occasion, I would like to express my deepest thanks to His Majesty, the most honorable king of the kingdom of Cambodia, who has always paid attention and provided supports to the Senate, the National Assembly and the efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia for the causes of security, national development, living standard promotion, welfare, and harmonization of the people.
- Samdech, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Currently, the Asia-Pacific region as well as the entire world is confronting the global issues such as trade war, armed war, cross border terrorism, all kinds of illegal cross-border trafficking, climate change, natural disaster, food security and poverty, which are threatening the global security and sustainable development of the world. Therefore, the 27th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum at this moment is truly significant for countries in the region as well as Cambodia in order to strengthen the Asia-Pacific Partnerships toward achieving peace, security and sustainable development.
This meeting is coincident with the celebration of the 2 historical events of Cambodia, including the 40th Anniversary of 7-January Victory and the 20th Anniversary of Entirely Ending of Civil War in Cambodia through Win-Win Policy, which is the tool for Cambodia to address the national issues by ourselves, successfully end the chronic war, and bring complete peace, and unity of the entire nation and territory by the end of 1998 without bloodshed, armed forces and commend, or assistance from foreign countries, and this is marked as the first historical event in Cambodia that has never been occurred during the last 500 years.
At the present time, Cambodia has just built the Win-Win Monument that has the historical meaning of entirely ending war and representing peace, infinite win, and it has inscribed countless national achievements for the next generation to study about Cambodian history.
After receiving the complete peace at the end of 1998, Cambodian economy has been progressing remarkably, starting from Zero, and during the last 2 decades, Cambodia has been ranked number 6 among the highest and fastest growing economies in the world by achieving the average growth of 7% per annum through constant development of the main sectors including industry, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, services, real estate, telecommunication, and transport. Particularly, economic infrastructure of Cambodia is moving from the reliance on agriculture to industry and services as the main sectors. With regard to the poverty rate, it has decreased from 53.2% in 2004 to 13.5% in 2014, and it has been forecasted to decrease to about 10% at the present. This factor has made Cambodia more ambitious in continuously making effort to become the higher middle-income country in 2030, and high income country in 2050. This achievement clearly reflects that peace brings development, and strong development ensures permanent peace.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to share some recommendations to the forum as the foundation for consideration and our discussion as follows:
- Shall jointly address more attention on the role of the United Nations, ASEAN, NGOs, and private sectors, especially sustainable development goals, climate change, natural disasters, food security, and poverty reduction that have been introduced by the United Nations.
- Shall promote the respect for rights and dignity of people as stated in charters and covenants of the United Nations (UN), especially not to interfere with other countries’ internal issues or to establish other illegal activities that cause regionally and globally political instability or chaos.
- Shall jointly resolve conflicts that arise with peaceful negotiation or based on international laws or through win-win policy that accommodate both dispute parties, or accept peacefully.
- Shall jointly prevent and combat timely and efficiently the terrorisms and all kinds of cross-border crimes, drugs trafficking, artifact trading, technology and telecommunication crimes, all kinds of infectious diseases, and women and children trafficking.
- Shall jointly promote culture via exchanging experience between countries in the region, strengthen friendship and closer cooperation between Asia-Pacific countries in order to maintain regional and global peace towards sustainable development.
In conclusion, with the announcement of the Opening of the 27th Annual Meeting of Asia Pacific Forum on Strengthening Parliamentary Partnership for Peace, Security and Sustainable Development, I would like to wish Samdech, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, who are present in this meeting, the comfortable and good memories during your stay in the famous Angkor land of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Thanks for your attention!
