Friday, September 30, 2011
Statement by His Excellency Mr. HOR Namhong Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia at the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly New York, 26 September 2011
Statement by
His Excellency Mr. HOR Namhong
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of
Cambodia
at the 66th Session of the UN General
Assembly
New York, 26 September 2011
-------------------------
-Mr. President,
-Excellency, ladies and
Gentlemen,
1.
At the outset, I would like to join the previous distinguished
speakers to express my sincere congratulations to His Excellency Nassir bin
Abdulziz al Nasser on his election as the President of the 66th
Session of the UN General Assembly. We are confident that with his able
leadership, our deliberations will be guided towards a successful conclusion.
2.
I would like also to take this opportunity to warmly congratulate His
Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon for being unanimously chosen by the General
Assembly to serve a second term. The Royal Government of Cambodia acknowledges
with great admiration his outstanding leadership and untiring efforts to
overcome many current global challenges.
3.
Cambodia welcomes warmly the Republic of South Sudan as a new member
of the United Nations. We will continue to dispatch more peacekeepers under the
United Nation Peace Keeping Operation to help humanitarian activities in
demining in this friendly new State.
-Mr. President,
4.
We live in an interconnected world where global challenges such as
economic and financial crisis, climate change, energy and food security,
terrorism, proliferation of weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) etc… are
increasingly complex and continue to haunt the whole world.
Global Economic and
Financial Governance
5.
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, as the global economy is now facing three
major challenges: sovereign debt, slow growth, and social instability. The
problem of unemployment has been very severe in advanced economies and
inflation is emerging in the developing economies. This has created havoc in
many parts of the world, as continued instability in the financial sector,
especially in the US and the Euro zone has dampened global trade with flow-on
effect on export, in particular that 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.
6.
The crisis has reaffirmed the importance of global economic and
financial governance reform, including strengthening the institutional role of
the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
7.
Asia has become an essential partner in the global economy and has
taken the lead in advancing global recovery. Cambodia’s economy, for instance,
is growing after a decline in 2008 and 2009 with an expected growth of 8.7%
this year. With strong, robust economies, East Asia and ASEAN are well
positioned to assume their responsibilities to contribute to addressing the
global economic and financial crisis.
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)
8.
Although some significant success have been achieved in attainting
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), most developing countries, in
particular the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) will continue to face many huge
hurdles on their path to reach the MDGs targets.
9.
Continued economic and financial instability in the developed world
has exacerbated uncertainty in funding for development projects in poor
countries. Persistently high fuel oil price is straining every economic aspect
of developing countries. Worsening food security situation is holding back
progress in reducing malnutrition and child mortality. Furthermore, the
burden of debt repayment constitutes another major challenge for the LDCs to
meet the MDGs targets. Facing these tremendous challenges, poverty reduction
remains the highest and foremost priority of the world, which requires steady
economic growth and a more pro-poor policy.
10. In
the context of the global effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals,
Cambodia has been listed among 20 countries making the most absolute progress
on MDGs, and was accorded, last year, the “MDG Award 2010” by the MDG
Award Committee in New York, for its outstanding progress towards achievement
of the MDG goal 6.
Climate Change
11. Climate
change is no doubt becoming a constant threat to our existence with its
devastating impact worldwide.Drought
and flooding have become more frequent and more severe in many parts of the
world, affecting millions of people. The current horrific drought at the horn
of Africa represents another most painful tragedy caused by global warming. The
threat of Climate change is a reality and it is a huge challenge for the
global community.
12. It
is regrettable that much of the promises pledged during the Copenhagen and
Cancun Meetings of the United Nations Climate Change Conference to assist the
developing countries to cope with climate change remains to be delivered
timely. Now, while the world is facing another financial turmoil, let us
not forget that actions on climate change cannot wait. Climate change is
progressing every day, triggering more and more frequent natural disasters. The
developing countries are hoping for timely support for their efforts to address
adaptation and mitigation and to develop clean energy and call the developed
world to honor their commitment under the Copenhagen and Cancun conferences.
13. The
coming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP17, in Durban- South Africa
in November, shall not be another delusion but the place to demonstrate our
true collective willingness to share the responsibility and to achieve a real
breakthrough to face climate change. While facing obstacles in achieving a
binding accord, Cambodia hopes that the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire
next year, will be extended during the DURBAN Conference.
14. Cambodia
for its part has successfully launched its own initiative called “ Cambodia
Climate Change Alliance ” (CCCA) since 2009 with the objective to strengthen
our national institutions for climate change risk. Cambodia is also
implementing numerous projects within the framework of “ The United Nation Programme
on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing
Countries ” (UN-REDD) while actively promoting adaptation and mitigations
measures through the project “ Promoting Climate Resilient-Water Management and
Agricultural Practices in Rural Cambodia ”.
Food and Energy Security
15. Food
and energy security are still major issues of global concern. Although the
recent surge in energy cost has subsided, the prices of fuel oil remain
extremely volatile. High fuel oil prices present a major burden on poor
countries which lack financial resources as well as knowhow to develop
alternative and clean sources of energy. As the world depends heavily on fuel
oil, we should act in concert to prevent unruly speculation and price instability
which have a devastating effect on developing countries, where efforts to
reduce poverty and meet the MDGs targets. May be it is time to consider
establishing a world body comprising of major producers and consumers of fuel
oil to ensure a reasonable price limit. The world should not be at the
mercy of oil speculation.
16. 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. Reducing reliance on fossil fuel will also
contribute significantly to slowing down the pace of global warming and climate
change as it reduces emission of harmful greenhouse gases produced by the
burning of fossil fuel.
17. Energy
security, on the other hand, is closely linked with food security. The soaring
of fuel oil prices in recent years has not only caused rising food prices, but
also reduced agricultural land for the production of bio-energy as an
alternative to fossil fuel. A balanced approach should be taken to address this
twin problem. Food insecurity is also caused and aggravated by the global
financial and economic meltdown and increasing world population.
18. The
number of undernourished people in the world is still unacceptably
high. The growth of global population will inevitably lead to increasing
demand on both energy and food.
19. For
its part, Cambodia is doing its best to contribute to the world food security,
by intensifying rice production as the top priority of the government’s policy.
More and more rice paddy are available for export. Cambodia is also seeking to
establish an Association of Rice Exporters in the ACMECS framework, comprising
of five rice-exporting countries in Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam. The Association aims to contribute to stabilizing
the food market and prevent speculation of food prices.
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