Cambodia, 2011

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.