At the outset, I would like
to join previous speakers in expressing my sincere
congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. We are
confident that under his able leadership, our
deliberations will be guided towards a successful
conclusion.
I would like also to take this opportunity to
warmly congratulate His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon
on being unanimously chosen by the General Assembly
to serve a second term as Secretary-General. The Royal
Government of Cambodia acknowledges with great
admiration his outstanding leadership and untiring
efforts to overcome the many current global
challenges.
Cambodia warmly welcomes the Republic of
South Sudan as a new Member of the United Nations.
We will continue to dispatch more peacekeepers under
with United Nations peacekeeping operations to help
with humanitarian activities and demining in that
friendly new State.
We live in an interconnected world where global
challenges such as economic and financial crises,
climate change, energy and food security, terrorism and
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
among others, have become increasingly complex and
continue to haunt the entire world.
The global economy remains somewhat fragile,
and there are many risks and challenges to a durable
exit from the crisis. The growth of the world economy
has decelerated in 2011, and the global economy now
faces three major challenges: sovereign debt, slow
growth and social instability.
The problem of unemployment has been very
severe in the advanced economies, and inflation is
emerging in the developing economies. That has
created havoc in many parts of the world, as continued
instability in the financial sector, especially in the
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United States and the euro zone, has dampened global
trade. That has an effect on exports, in particular of
developing countries. Therefore, a wide range of policy
responses and long-overdue reforms must be
implemented to accelerate growth and bring the global
economy out of the crisis.
The crisis has reaffirmed the importance of
reform in global economic and financial governance,
including strengthening the institutional role of the
International Monetary Fund.
Asia has become an essential partner in the global
economy and has taken the lead in advancing global
recovery. For instance, Cambodia’s economy is
growing, after a decline in 2008 and 2009, with an
expected growth rate of 8.7 per cent this year. With
strong, robust economies, East Asia and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations are well
positioned to assume their responsibilities to contribute
to addressing the global economic and financial crisis.
Although some significant successes have been
achieved in attaining the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), most developing countries, in
particular least developed countries (LDCs), will
continue to face many huge hurdles on their path to
reach the MDG targets.
Continued economic and financial instability in
the developed world has exacerbated uncertainty in
funding for development projects in poor countries.
Persistently high fuel oil prices are straining every
economic aspect of developing countries. The
worsening food security situation is holding back
progress in reducing malnutrition and child mortality.
The burden of debt repayment constitutes another
major challenge for the LDCs in meeting the MDG
targets.
Faced with these tremendous challenges, poverty
reduction remains the highest and foremost global
priority. It requires steady economic growth and a more
pro-poor policy.
In the context of the global effort to meet the
Millennium Development Goals, Cambodia has been
listed among the 20 countries making the most absolute
progress on the MDGs. Last year it was accorded the
2010 MDG Award by the MDG Awards Committee in
New York for its outstanding progress towards
achievement of Goal 6.
There is no doubt that climate change, with its
devastating impact worldwide, has become a constant
threat to our existence. Drought and flooding have
become more frequent and more severe in many parts
of the world, affecting millions of people. The current
horrific drought in the Horn of Africa represents
another most painful tragedy caused by global
warming. The threat of climate change is a reality and
a huge challenge for the global community.
It is regrettable that many of the promises made
during the Copenhagen and Cancún meetings of the
United Nations Climate Change Conference to assist
developing countries cope with climate change remain
to be delivered in a timely manner. Now, while the
world is facing further financial turmoil, let us not
forget that actions on climate change cannot wait.
Climate change is progressing every day, triggering
more frequent natural disasters. The developing
countries are hoping for timely support for their efforts
to address, adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate
change and to develop clean energy. They call on the
developed world to honour their commitments under
the Copenhagen and Cancún conferences.
The seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change in Durban, South Africa, in November must
not become another delusion but a place to demonstrate
our collective will to share the responsibility and to
achieve a real breakthrough in facing climate change.
While obstacles remain to achieving a binding accord,
Cambodia hopes that the Kyoto Protocol, which is due
to expire next year, will be extended during the Durban
conference.
Cambodia, for its part, successfully launched its
own initiative, which is called Cambodia Climate
Change Alliance, in 2009, with the objective of
strengthening our national institutions to deal with
climate change risks. Cambodia is also implementing
numerous projects within the framework of the United
Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries while actively promoting
adaptation and mitigation measures through our project
to promote climate-resilient water management and
agricultural practices in rural Cambodia.
Food and energy security remain major issues of
global concern. Although the recent surge in energy
costs has subsided, the price of fuel oil remains
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extremely volatile. High fuel oil prices are a major
burden on poor countries, which lack financial
resources and know-how to develop alternative and
clean energy sources. As the world depends heavily on
fuel oil, we should act in concert to prevent unruly
speculation and price instability, which have
devastating effects on developing countries’ efforts to
reduce poverty and meet the MDG targets. It may be
time to consider establishing a world body comprised
of major fuel oil producers and consumers to ensure a
reasonable price limit. The world should not be at the
mercy of oil producers.
A more holistic approach for addressing energy
security is the transfer of relevant knowledge and
technology to assist developing countries in exploiting
alternative sources of energy. Reduced reliance on
fossil fuel will also contribute significantly to slowing
the pace of global warming and climate change while
reducing emissions of the harmful greenhouse gases
produced by burning fuel oil.
On the other hand, energy security is closely
linked to food security. Soaring fuel oil prices in recent
years have not only caused food prices to rise but have
also reduced land devoted to agriculture through the
change to production of bioenergy as an alternative to
fuel oil. A balanced approach must be taken to address
that twin problem. Food insecurity is also caused and
aggravated by the global financial and economic
meltdown and increasing world population.
The number of undernourished people in the
world remains unacceptably high. Global population
growth will inevitably lead to increased demand for
both energy and food.
For its part, Cambodia is doing its best to
contribute to world food security by intensifying rice
production as the top priority of Government policy.
More and more rice will be available for export.
Cambodia is also seeking to establish an association of
rice exporters under the framework of the Ayeyawady-
Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy,
comprised of five rice-exporting countries in South-
East Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and
Viet Nam. The association will contribute to stabilizing
the food market and preventing speculation in food
prices.
With respect to global peace and security, one of
today’s gravest threats to humanity is terrorism.
Despite the enormous efforts made by the international
community to prevent and combat acts of terrorism,
such acts continue to occur daily almost everywhere in
the world. No country has been spared by terrorism. Its
networks comprise a vast and complex web of
interlinked criminal activities, including money-
laundering, weapons trafficking and organized crime.
It is therefore time for us to consider whether the
antiterrorism measures adopted to date have been
sufficient. Cambodia fully supports United Nations
efforts to create a global coalition against terrorism. In
that context, Cambodia believes that there is an urgent
need to finalize the draft United Nations global
counter-terrorism convention, which has been
discussed for many years within the Organization. The
adoption of that convention would strengthen and
broaden the legal frameworks to combat those crimes
against humanity.
On weapons of mass destruction, the international
community has made notable progress in recent years
in the area of arms control and disarmament. Cambodia
welcomes the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
signed last year by the United States and Russia, which
has made an important contribution towards
eliminating weapons of mass destruction. However,
existing nuclear weapon stockpiles remain a serious
threat to humanity. Cambodia requests States that have
not yet signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons to do so as soon as possible, for we
all share the responsibility to guarantee a more secure
world for all.
In that context, Cambodia has participated for
several years in demining operations in South Sudan,
Lebanon and in other United Nations peacekeeping
missions, including Chad and the Central African
Republic.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains one of the
most protracted and volatile conflicts in the Middle
East. Cambodia calls on the two parties to manifest
political will to overcome their mutual animosity in
order create an atmosphere conducive to the
resumption of peace negotiations in the interests of
both Palestinians and Israelis.
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Cambodia has always supported the creation of
the Palestinian State based upon its 1967 borders. In
that spirit, Cambodia supports the rights of Palestine to
become a full Member of the United Nations at this
session of the General Assembly. Moreover, it must be
acknowledged that neither Palestinians nor Israelis
could live anywhere else. It would therefore be far
better if both peoples could live side by side in peace
and as good neighbours. Cambodia sees no other
solution to that issue.
The embargo against Cuba has lasted for too
long. Today it is an anachronism, a terrible injustice
against the Cuban people, who have been the first to
suffer. That is why Cambodia is today renewing its call
for lifting this embargo, which has brought the Cuban
people nothing but suffering. It is time to end the
sanctions and put an end to the long trial they have
undergone.
Given the changes in the world of today and the
multiple challenges they bring, the main bodies of the
United Nations should be reformed in order to deal
with the problems we currently confront. Cambodia
believes that such reform must be comprehensive. If
we cannot arrive at a consensus on Security Council
reform today, perhaps we should move forward with
reform of the General Assembly, so as to give it more
power and thus enable it to play a more meaningful
role in tackling the great challenges of our time, as the
most representative and democratic body of the United
Nations. In regard to the Security Council, reforms
should ensure that it reflects the realities of today’s
world through equitable distribution of representation
among permanent and non-permanent members.