Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, especially the civil servants of the General Department of Taxation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to be bestowed with peace, prosperity and the blessings of the Buddha, and may the five blessings of longevity, class, happiness, strength, and prosperity never be parted from you.
Today, my colleagues and I had the pleasure of visiting the building that had just been inaugurated under the patronage of the Prime Minister. My visit was just decided on Sunday when His Excellency Kong Vibol came in to report to me, together with a request for advice from His Excellency Ouch Borith, regarding the venue for the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference (ISC) scheduled for this coming August.
I’ve immediately decided to visit and inspect this place to determine the location of the meeting of the Presidents of the Senates and the Speakers of the National Assemblies coming from more than 40 countries. Let me take this opportunity to emphasize that – in my capacity as the President of the Senate, who will be leading the meeting at that time, I am announcing that I have decided to use this headquarters as the venue for this major international meeting.
I am not sure where would the Prime Minister and the Francophone Summit Organizing Committee choose (as the place for meeting). I leave it to the Prime Minister to decide, but if I were the Prime Minister, I would choose this venue for the meeting. We see that it has every level (of facility that) we can host the summit here. There are many meeting rooms, and we also need rooms for the heads of state, heads of government. As for the Presidents of the Senates, the Speakers of the National Assemblies, we need to have many different rooms, including bilateral meeting rooms, etc. So, I have determined today (to set this place) for the meeting (of IPS).
Now, let’s turn to the construction of the building. I have received no less than 10 reports, from the start of land selection to the inauguration, from His Excellency Kong Vibol on the progress of the construction. In fact, His Excellency Kong Vibol said that he wanted me to visit before the inauguration. I did not have the opportunity to take a visit. However, it is better to be late than never. Now that I have arrived, I would like to inform you that this is the first time – that in visiting this place, I told His Excellency Kong Vibol that I would like to have a meal here. His Excellency and Lok Chumteavs, who are accompanying me, can have food here on the 29th floor, from where we overlook the Tonle Sap River and Phnom Penh City.
I sincerely appreciate the strategy or principle of using palm leaves to package palm sugar. It is a success that has been put forward (in the past). It can be said that this is the largest building among state buildings. The Peace Palace has 50,000 square meters. The 7 Makara Palace has 57,000 square meters. This building has more than 150,000 square meters. It can be said that among all state buildings, this tax center is the largest in the Kingdom of Cambodia. This achievement came from the initiative and efforts of the General Department of Taxation, with the support of the Minister of Economy and Finance, as well as the direct support of the Prime Minister.
When looking for land, Mr. Pong Kheav Se recommended somewhere else. After my talk with him, I have given the opportunity to His Excellency Kong Vibol to choose the place. I explained to Oknha Pong Kheav Se that when we have a good place, the land price goes up, so it is a profit for him to promote this area. I highly appreciate the effort to build a wonderful building, which clearly shows that it is the work of the Cambodian people – the design, the construction and the budget are all Cambodian.
When I built the Peace Palace, many people asked me. Foreign friends asked who came to design the building, and/or who helped. “Since our ancestors were able to build Angkor Wat temple, why should we, the Cambodians, rely on others in building something of this magnitude?” – I said. The same is true for this tax building. It was designed and built by Cambodians and some materials were from the land of Cambodia.
This is the pride for us all. (Development) however, has its stages […] I won’t take much time today because at 11 o’clock, the Prime Minister (will) issue a message to our citizens and there will be a live broadcast on television. After I finish speaking, the Prime Minister will also start delivering a live broadcast. I won’t disclose anything in advance. I’ll let the Prime Minister himself announce his message.
What I want to emphasize here is that the issue of public finance reform, including tax reform, is not a small issue. It is huge. It is almost like pulling a bamboo tree backwards. Taxpayers are one thing, but officials who lose benefits are another. However, please use the two quotes (of my instructions). The first (instruction, written in) 2013, encourages brave action, with not fear. The second (instruction) affirms that those who have come to lobby me to misunderstand, up to now, have not been born or have not yet reborn.
Should there lack rigor, this reform will not be implemented. I have already stated that being a prime minister without cash is miserable. There is not enough income to cover expenses. I appreciate and (am pleased that) I have chosen the right person, namely Kong Vibol to succeed Sim Oeun, to carry out reforms led by HE Keat Chhon, and followed by HE Aun Pornmonirath. If we do not carry out reforms, our tax revenue will probably remain the same. Before, we would have been excited as if we are flying when the Customs Department produced only US$20 million or US$30 million (dollars) in a month. Now, (the collected sum of) US$240 million or US$230 million is low. We would consider it high only when the sum is US$250 million and up.
The figures illustrated in the presentation shows that in the first five months, the tax revenue has already reached more than 53%. (Let us) think of and state it in cash so that to prevent some (from misinterpreting it). Noting that we printed new banknotes for festive occasions, like His Majesty the King’s coronation anniversary, some of those bad people said that we ran out of money. While we printed five billion (riel), it is worth more than one million dollars. Cambodia now does not speak in tens of millions. They also do not speak in hundreds of millions. They talk in billions.
Let me send them a message (that that they) want the government to fail), their plan is hopeless. Just the revenue from tax (in five months) is equal to 53% (of plan or) the amount is more than US$2 billion. To add up the custom revenue, they come to more than US$3,500 million. This is just the fiscal revenue, and it is not counting in non-fiscal revenue. Don’t you ever think that the government has no money. Of course, we need (to make sure to meet the) current expenses. We will not be short for current expenses. At first, it was miserable when it comes to salary payment. The misery is that while the salary was small, there was no money to pay. Some of our officials joked that Cambodia had 60, 70, 80 or 90 days in a month. Now, Cambodia has only 15 days in a month. Why? We have been able to pay salary once every 15 days […]
Having said that it does not mean that we are rich and spending without thinking about saving. I freshly remember what I have shared with Prime Ministers of other countries, who had come to see me. They ask me of how I manage? “What I do is we have only one commander-in-chief and one chief of staff” – I said. That is all. Don’t let anyone interfere. The Prime Minister is the commander-in-chief and the Minister of Economy and Finance is the chief of staff. Just those two […] Don’t let the President of this or that to interfere in that matter. Otherwise, the Minister of (Economy and) Finance will bear the pressure. The party leader orders the expense, the head of state orders the expense and the head of parliament also orders the expense, and that will put us in dying state. I won’t let anyone touch it.
This is the what made us (have the fiscal surplus). If there was no disaster caused by Covid-19, I would say, we could have deducted USD 2 billion or USD 2.5 billion to build infrastructure without relying on foreign sources. The Covid-19 hurt us. At that time, we saved about USD 4 billion, from which we used one billion to buy a 400-megawatt generator, which we installed near Phnom Penh, we sent money to Siem Reap and Sihanoukville to build infrastructures. The Covid-19 brought down our (cash availability), thus hindering my plan. However, as the Covid-19 subsided, we had recovered.
So far, I think we have earned no less than USD one billion or more. Through what? By trading horses for horses. We don’t have the money to remodel old buildings. In some places, people’s houses are used as ministries. But, because the land is highly appraised, there are also requests for exchanges. A small piece of land is exchanged for three or four hectares of land plus buildings for the ministry. Before, they were outside the city. Now they are all in the city. Well, if we review the buildings that were exchanged, for example, the Ministry of Commerce building near the former Etablissement Jean COMTE, […] has exchanged it for a few hectares of land and the buildings were already built. Before, it was on the outskirts, but now it is in the city center. One may ask (for the result) how many hundreds of millions of dollars did that earn, Considering the price of land and buildings. At that time, some cursed me. Now, maybe they understand. In the past, we didn’t have money, so our method was to trade horses for horses. Some blamed us on everything, but valuing it at the current prices, our profit would be no less than one billion (dollars).
Another thing I wanted to say regarding everything I did is wrong is the case of Boeung Kak. If it has not developed, what would Boeung Kak have become? It would just be a place to/from which the sewage discharges. At that time, while many cursed me, Boeung Kak became a hiding place for the terrorist (Hambali) who carried out attacks in Indonesia. They came to hide in Boeung Kak […] After all, they said it is now beautiful. The city of Phnom Penh was originally a flooded area. It was gradually built by King Norodom Sihanouk. He built (a lot), even my house at the Independence Monument […] also stands in area that used to be a lake. Wasn’t the area where we built the Independence Monument used to be a lake or a canal? Development must be done. So, why can’t I do it in my generation?
It has now changed beyond what they said […] Take for instance the Chroy Changvar area, should it be left as a place for growing water spinach? Originally, this place was for growing water spinach and elephant grasses wildly grew. The satellite city of Chroy Changvar was full of water spinach, but now it has become a city, and I will hold international meetings here. The Presidents of the Senates/and Speakers of the National Assemblies will meet here. If I were the Prime Minister, I would choose this place (for the meeting of heads of states/governments of French-speaking countries) because the building is big, and has many meeting places. It’s not difficult to find parking space, and it’s close. People can stay at a hotel in the city, or this Sokha Hotel and Lyong Phat Hotel. When (we held this ASEAN) Summit at the Sokha Hotel, the Sultan of Brunei stayed at the Lyong Phat Hotel […]
A satellite city has born. There is another satellite city on Boeung Tumpun. At first, we flew helicopters over it, and it was a place where people grow water spinach. Should we let the water spinach to grow or what? We dug up the water flow to make it deeper and cleared the land above it for construction, expanding it into Borey Chip Mong, a 60-meter road […] Boeung Tamok is another that people cursed me about. When I was a boy, we had this Korbsrov dam. Every year, when the seasonal flood came, we worried about the dam breaking. Now, people leveled up land one kilometer further for construction, the flood would not be a cause of breaking the dam anymore. It is not a place to store water. In the year 2000, the dam almost broke. HE Chea Saphara may have remembered that time when Lim Kean Hor called it a 1000-stars hotel. We had to come sleep and wait at the dam, in case the flood breaks (the dam). It would have killed the people in the city. Now that people have made it another city, let us see what is going to happen. It is not going to die.
Normally, development goes like that. We must not, however, encroach on any water reservoir area. We must keep it to catch and release the water. This place is not a water reservoir. It is a water flow front. So, what is the benefit of keeping it? We expanded the city from 300 square kilometers to more than 600 square kilometers. As far as I remember, I signed no less than five times. Originally, the land where (we are standing) belonged to Kandal province because the administrative border between Kandal province and Phnom Penh city is at the foot of the Chroy Changvar bridge. I signed in 1988 after I went to the second Sihanouk-Hun Sen meeting in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Then, with Thong Khon, I took a boat and we stopped to eat watermelon at Prek Ta Sek.
They told me it was the land under Kandal province’s authority, but Phnom Penh came to help protect it. At that time, the Khmer Rouge were still capable of shelling the city. It was all inundated forest. That’s why I cut it from Kandal and gave it to Phnom Penh. It was then the capital city of Phnom Penh. Some people don’t understand, when to call it the Royal City or the Capital City, a royal government official or a state government official. The word state government official means that the country is a Republic. The royal government official means that the country is a Monarchy. The state capital city is for a Republic. The royal capital is a Monarchy. Developing is difficult, but we must overcome it. We could not afford to not do it. For example, in the case of taxes, if we don’t do it, from where do we get the money to develop the country?
It is almost time for the Prime Minister to broadcast his live message. I just want to confirm that (if there were no reforms,) we would not have risen. We must dare to do it. I came here not to speak on behalf of the Prime Minister, but I am speaking about the messages. Those who are talking about overthrowing the Hun clan, they may have no chance. Let me tell you that anyone who attempts to overthrow the government is deemed to be a rebel and will be beaten. I respect the rights of those who do politics peacefully, without attempting to overthrow in violation of the Constitution. There is not much message to send, though. Just, do not talk about overthrowing the Hun clan. If you continue to talk about overthrowing the Hun clan, let me tell you clearly – “even if there is no one from the Hun clan to lead, it would not be your turn even. It would only be the children of the Angel/CPP who have the right to hold power”.
While I brought my grandchildren along to hear about the welfare of the people, they said that it’s like I’m showing off my grandchildren. Well, I’ll show more. Two of my grandchildren finished master’s degrees, and many are in universities […] If Hun Manet can’t lead or there is no one in the Hun clan (to do it), it is still not the turn of the Sam, Sok, Sao or Atit. Not at all. There will be only the Angel/CPP clan. That means the Cambodian People’s Party. It’s not their turn. If they’re still audacious, I won’t be afraid to raise my hand. Don’t say that being the Senate President, I have no right to do anything to you. I am the head of the ruling Party. In saying that, when the Prime Minister talks, he smiles. They’ll say that the father speaks with cruelty. The son speaks with a gentle and smiling face. He has got to smile because he got the blood from his mother. His mother always smiles. He smiles too. No matter how tough he talks, his face still smiles. When it comes to Hun Sen, it’s not like that. Speaking is speaking. Smiles come when it is time to smile.
After wrapping up here, I will watch the Prime Minister’s message of declaration to the people regarding the things that people want to know – what Cambodia is doing in the future? As far as the live message will be delivered in both Khmer and English to the Cambodians as well as to the international community. I would like to thank His Excellency Kong Vibol as well as his colleagues for their hospitality, and the Royal Government officials who are here present. Finally, I wish you all to experience only prosperity with the Buddha’s blessings and the five blessings – longevity, class, happiness, strength, and prosperity may never be parted from you./.
