KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

STATEMENT

BY

HIS EXCELLENCY

Mr. HOR NAMHONG

SENIOR MINISTER

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

TO

THE 55TH SESSION

OF THE ITMETED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 20, 2000

Mr. President,

Mr. Secretary General,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am, particularly, pleased on behalf of my delegation, to extend to you, Mr. President, my warmest congratulations on the occasion of your brilliant election as President of the 55th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

May I also convey my congratulations to His Excellency, Dr. THEO BEN GURIRAB, President of the 54th session, for his eminent leadership with which he successfully steered the work of the 54th session, and equally to the Secretary General, His Excellency Mr. KOFI ANNAN, for his admirable and untiring efforts towards the cause of peace and development in the world.

I would, also, like to take this opportunity to welcome TUVALU into the Organization, and to convey sincere congratulations of the Kingdom of Cambodia's delegation. Its presence, among us, will add a new credit to our Organization.

Mr. President,

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 its enormous difficulties and obstacles, has scored good results with regular growth, thus paving the way for solid foundation for long term economic growth, and sustainable development of Cambodia. The achievements in 1999, and in the first six months of this year are encouraging for the future of Cambodia.

The Kingdom of Cambodia, with its profound belief in the value of democracy and human rights which should be in harmony with the cultural peculiarities, the traditions, and the level of development, considers human rights as one of the foundations of the system of government. The Royal Government of Cambodia, at present, makes great efforts towards the reinforcement of democratic pluralism and the rule of law.

Mr. President,

The recently held Millennium Summit, with its agenda-" the United Nations in the 2 1st century"-has defined great guidelines on its policies and reforms of this universal institution designed to overcome problems facing our planet in this 3rd millennium. This common reflection of our leaders is the testimony of the aspiration of all the peoples around the world for a more equitable international environment in the face of rapid globalization for economic, social and cultural development of all nations.

On the question of the Security Council, the Royal Government of Cambodia believes, as many Member States do, that it is very important for the Security Council to reflect today's real situation in the world. This can be achieved by expanding the permanent and non-permanent membership of the Council to the developing countries, and those countries which have concretely contributed to share the burden of the United Nations operations. Only through overall reform and enlargement, the Security Council will 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 to 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 more efforts in order to finally reach 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 peace-accords agreed upon so that the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people shall be recognized by all.

In spite of the consequences of the financial crisis in 1997, Asia is on the road of recovery and Asia's economic growth has ever since been recorded. The 33rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting held last July 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 regions as well as in the whole world with the peaceful re-unification of North and South Korea.

Mr. President,

We have, today, witnessed the interesting phenomenon of globalization. There is no state which could 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 economy 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, who cannot catch up with the 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 must be overcome by 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 so far away from being sufficient. That is why, we appeal for this initiative to be adopted by some other members of the international community, enabling more poor countries to benefit from these human and just actions.

Mr. President,

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 do hope so, to find a new mechanism to save the developing countries from becoming victims of the globalization, while other countries take more and more advantage.

In this context, as the United Nations is called upon by the Millennium Summit to play a more decisive role in ensuring that the development of nations be more equitable, it is necessary that this world institution possesses the means to support its actions. Also, it is an imperative requirement for the establishment of a new mechanism of relations between the United Nations and the international financial institution. On the other hand, it is a necessity to have a new order of international relations to face the fast phenomenon of globalization, and 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 for the entire international community.

Thank You.