Cambodia, 2000

On behalf of the

delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia, I am

particularly pleased to extend, through you, Mr. Acting

President, my warmest congratulations on the occasion

of the election of Mr. Harri Holkeri as President of the

fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly of the

United Nations. May I also convey my congratulations

to Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the fifty-fourth

session, for his eminent leadership and successful

steering of the work of that session. Equal

congratulations go to Secretary-General Kofi Annan

for his admirable and untiring efforts made on behalf of

peace and development in the world. I would also like

to take this opportunity to welcome Tuvalu into the

Organization and to convey the sincere congratulations

of the Cambodian delegation. Tuvalu's presence among

us will add a new credit to our Organization.

The political platform for economic development,

launched by the Royal Government of Cambodia since

its formation in 1998, after many decades of civil war

and tragedy, and in spite of enormous difficulties and

obstacles, has scored good results with regular growth,

thus paving the way for a solid foundation for long-

term economic growth and sustainable development in

Cambodia.

The achievements of 1999, and of the first six

months of this year, are encouraging for the future of

Cambodia. The Kingdom of Cambodia, with its

profound belief that the value of democracy and human

rights should be in harmony with cultural peculiarities,

traditions, and level of development, considers human

rights to be one of the foundations of the system of

government. The Royal Government of Cambodia, at

present, is making great efforts towards the

reinforcement of democratic pluralism and the rule of

law.

The recently held Millennium Summit on the role

of the United Nations in the twenty-first century has,

through its Millennium Declaration, defined great

guidelines on this universal institution's policies and

reforms, designed to overcome problems facing our

planet in the third millennium. The shared reflection of

our leaders is testimony to the aspirations of all peoples

throughout the world for a more equitable international

environment in the face of rapid globalization and its

effects on the economic, social and cultural

development of all nations.

On the question of the Security Council, the

Royal Government of Cambodia believes, as do many

Member States, that it is very important for the

Security Council to reflect the reality of today's world.

This can be achieved by expanding the permanent and

non-permanent membership of the Council to the

developing countries and to those countries that have

concretely contributed to sharing the burden of United

Nations operations. Only through overall reform and

enlargement will the Security Council be able to

maintain its effectiveness and legitimacy in this new

millennium. In this regard, Cambodia strongly supports

Japan's and India's permanent membership in this core

body of the United Nations.

The Kingdom of Cambodia observes with great

interest the situation in the Middle East. We urge both

sides to make greater efforts in order to achieve lasting

peace in this suffering region. The Kingdom of

Cambodia reaffirms its total support for a fair,

equitable, durable, and global settlement based on the

relevant resolutions of the United Nations and on the

application of the agreed-upon peace accords, so that

the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people will be

recognized by all.

In spite of the consequences of the financial crisis

in 1997 and 1998, Asia is on the road to recovery and

Asia's economic growth has ever since been recorded.

The thirty-third Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting held this past

July in Bangkok bears witness once more to the

exemplary solidarity between member States to

integrate their economies and to further advance their

multiform cooperation.

The Kingdom of Cambodia is very pleased with

the inter-Korean summit meeting in Pyongyang last

June, which we consider as an important landmark in

the relationship between the two brotherly nations, and

which has enormously contributed to the maintenance

of peace and stability in its region as well as in the

whole world and to the peaceful reunification of Korea.

(spoke in French)

25

We are witnessing, today, the growing

phenomenon of globalization. There are no States that

can avoid its immense impact on our daily life.

However, the process of globalization is not a

sufficient answer to the quest of the developing

countries to reach progress and development for better

living conditions of their people. It is clear that the

impact of globalization benefits, primarily, States

having strong economies and advanced technology,

while leaving the least developed countries with little,

if any, means to cope with such reality.

The developing countries, especially the least

developed countries, that cannot catch up with

globalization's speed will be left behind. The rich

countries will get richer and more developed, and the

poor countries will get poorer and poorer.

Therefore, the Royal Government of Cambodia

calls all Member States of the United Nations to unite

their efforts and resources to make sure that the

benefits of globalization are expanded more equally

among the international community and to maximize

the positive impact of this phenomenon in order to

enable the least developed countries to follow the trend

of globalization.

Another aspect of finance for development is the

crushing burden of debt that weighs on the developing

countries. Debt places a heavy burden on the

development process of many developing countries.

Unfortunately, the debt strategies that have been

implemented so far have not proved capable of solving

this problem.

The Royal Government of Cambodia appreciates

the initiative taken by some nations in agreeing to

solve the intolerable debt burden of the least developed

countries. However, the results are currently far from

being sufficient. That is why we appeal for these

initiatives to be adopted by some other members of the

international community, enabling more poor countries

to benefit from these human and just actions.

Cambodia sincerely hopes that the Millennium

Summit, which has just successfully concluded, will

bring about the imperative reform of the United

Nations. The reform of this important world body will

positively respond to the reality of the world today, and

would be able, I hope, to establish a new mechanism to

save the developing countries from becoming victims

of globalization, even as other countries derive greater

and greater benefit.

In this context, as the United Nations has been

called upon by the Millennium Summit to play a more

decisive role in ensuring that the development of

nations is more equitable, it is necessary that this world

institution possess the means to support its actions.

Also, it is an imperative requirement to establish a new

mechanism of relations between the United Nations

and the international financial institution.

Moreover, it is necessary to have a new order of

international relations in view of the rapid phenomenon

of globalization, so as to reduce the ever-increasing

unjust gap between the rich and poor countries. I am

convinced that this is not a matter of generosity, but a

matter of human security, as well as the security of the

entire international community.