… It is indeed my pleasure to have seen this University emerges strongly after so many years of efforts in getting its role and functions shaped up … According to the report about 20,000 students have graduated from the University and about 10,000 are in their studies … I wish to take this opportune moment to thank the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for the efforts made in strengthening such a professional institution to be a leading state University …
Many students graduated from the University have taken up jobs in some state institutions and some have also got promoted to governors and deputy governors of districts and provinces and some secretaries of state and undersecretaries of state … HE Im Setthi said in his report that Cambodia registers 29 public education institutions and 44 private ones with a total number of 57, 828 students … This has proven that the vision laid out by the former State of Cambodia is not wrong and if it is wrong Hun Sen would have a bigger share, and not less if it is right …
Talking about contribution for a course of action – everyone wants to share the positive ones, whereas the negative ones no one wishes to take responsibility in … UNTAC was so eager to take credit for what happened in Cambodia but they were intimidated by the Khmer Rouge but no one ever talks about Cambodia’s win-win solution … Not only local but foreigners also take credit for what they fail to accomplish too … I have instructed against all odds and criticism to allow state universities to provide services to two kinds of students those with state scholarship and those on own school fees … this has proven to work and work so far … also I have allowed private education institutions to take extra students where state universities have not been able to provide placements …
It is a good solution so far that those students could be absorbed by private institutions … or we would have placement crisis … It has proven indeed that it is a correct decision and because of this we can see that investment in education from the state and private sector has been huge and I am to continue and expand this policy …
I have noticed that in some countries, private and state institutions have been competing with one another – some countries have stronger private education institutions and other vice versa. For Cambodia, I wish the both systems to be strong and effective …. It is a good time to review if the Royal Government is not on the right track in terms of education policy … Because the Cambodian People’s Party champions this correct policy on education, our people voted two-third majority for the Party … Some people hold firmly on to two-third majority parliament in order to serve their bargaining purpose … While the Constitutional amendment has been made from two-third majority to 50 + 1, the Cambodian People’s Party has secured two-third majority and kept Funcinpec as its sole partner …
As a tip to graduates, to live an unremorseful life, one has to commit no sin, in order to have no sin, one has to do good/merit deed, to live harmoniously in the family one has to be good in family, in workplace one has to be good in workplace, and in the country one has to be good for nation, to do otherwise you will be remorseful …
I have stated from being a soldier to becoming leader of resistance against Pol Pot and joined with other leaders to set up the Front … I have been in the seat of power for 30 years … it has not been easy because it is desired by many … However, if I were to hold on, they may not stand a chance to get it …
The economic situation has not been good the world over … We have a situation to fight against – job losses because of closure of factories, by creating jobs for those who graduated from university, to diversify our production to cater to partly the new need for exports but also to reduce imports … In anyway we do not opt to policy of protectionism because it is the cause that small countries find it difficult to export …
By forthcoming March 2010 through to 2012, Cambodia needs an international standard meeting hall because we will host various meetings – ASEAN, East Asia, ACMECS, GMS, CLMV, CLV and also possibly Non-Alignment meeting …
I am looking to build a building by the Cambodian architects, like the national Assembly building … The new building will be next to the new Office of the Council of Ministers … and it should be ready in fifteen months … It will be the five –storey building to be sophisticatedly equipped and it will be inaugurated together with the new Office of the Council of Ministers hopefully before next national day in 2010, so it will be ready for ACMECS, CLMV and CLV meetings … We then will have His Majesty for the inauguration of both – the Chinese assisted and the Khmer self-developed buildings…■
