Your Excellency Samdech Hun Sen
and Madame Bun Rany Hun Sen
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thank you for the very warm welcome and gracious hospitality you have extended to my wife and me, and to my delegation. We had a wonderful two days in Siem Reap. The Angkor temples are a rich heritage that Cambodians can be proud of. I have also had good meetings in Phnom Penh today. They have provided me with useful insights into developments in your country. I look forward to my other meetings tomorrow.
Cambodia has made significant progress since my last visit 4? years ago. There is a greater vibrancy, and a stronger sense of purpose and optimism. According to a recent Asian Development Bank report [Asian Development Outlook for 2001], Cambodia's improved political and economic stability will boost GDP growth to 5% in 2001 and 6% in 2002. The same report also noted Cambodia's efforts to accelerate socio-economic development by undertaking comprehensive fiscal reforms.
Cambodia has made these determined strides of progress under the wise guidance of His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk and under your able leadership. Mr Prime Minister, I congratulate you especially on your economic policy. Your job has not been an easy one. Despite the many domestic constraints and daunting challenges, Cambodia has not back-tracked from its open-market policy. Instead, it has shown determination to integrate itself with the ASEAN economies through AFTA, e-ASEAN and other initiatives.
I am confident that with Prime Minister Hun Sen's clear vision and strong sense of purpose, Cambodia will see further development and prosperity in the years ahead.
In particular, I would like to commend Prime Minister Hun Sen for his boldness in adopting an open skies policy over Siem Reap. I believe Cambodia will see large benefits from this liberal aviation policy. Already, it has encouraged more tourists to visit your beautiful country. Following the inception of direct flights from Singapore to Siem Reap last November, many Singaporeans and foreign tourists have flocked from Singapore to visit Angkor Wat and other parts of Cambodia. My delegation, for example, has been a beneficiary of this policy. I had promised you that I would visit Angkor Wat if there were direct flights between Singapore and Siem Reap. I am appreciative that you have made it possible for me to realise this promise.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
I would also like to thank Prime Minister Hun Sen for his kind words about Singapore.
Singapore's relations with Cambodia go back a long way. We have not forgotten that Cambodia was one of the first countries to recognize Singapore when we gained independence in 1965. Since then, Cambodia has been through some difficult times. Our relations have also suffered at times.
I am pleased, however, that ties between Singapore and Cambodia have improved and expanded rapidly over the last decade. There have been regular exchanges of visits between our leaders and officials. There is also a growing exchange of visits by our peoples for work, tourism and education. A number of non-governmental groups like the Singapore International Foundation have visited Cambodia to undertake humanitarian projects.
The Singapore Government would like to foster even closer bilateral ties. In particular, we believe that there is scope to co-operate on human resource development. Over the years, the Singapore Government has invested heavily in Singapore's principal asset, namely, its people. Likewise, I know that Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Royal Cambodian Government attach great importance to human resource development. Indeed, people will be the single most critical factor of competitiveness in the New Economy. Singapore will continue to share with Cambodia our developmental experience and assist Cambodia in its human resource development.
Being fellow members of ASEAN also gives Singapore and Cambodia a common platform on which we can work together for the peace and prosperity of our countries and our region. We both have a stake in making ASEAN a robust grouping in the international arena.
Unfortunately, arising from the regional financial crisis, ASEAN's reputation has taken a beating. ASEAN is perceived by many to be weak and disunited. There is a grain of truth in these perceptions. ASEAN has not grown as fast as before the regional financial crisis. In fact, many of us are bogged down by domestic political problems. We have not been able to give full attention to the grouping, and how we as a group, should look outwards and compete against others. Yet the reality is that the future of all our individual countries depends to a good extent on the health of ASEAN.
We made some headway in addressing this problem at the 4th ASEAN Informal Summit last November. We agreed to push ahead with initiatives like AFTA, the ASEAN Investment Area and e-ASEAN. We also put in place a framework, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration or IAI, to integrate the newer members more closely into the ASEAN fold. I welcome Cambodia's and Prime Minister Hun Sen's strong commitment to these initiatives. If we stick faithfully to and implement fully these plans for ASEAN integration, ASEAN will surely regain its prominence.
I also agree with Prime Minister Hun Sen, as he said in his opening speech to the 7th ASEAN Economic Ministers' Retreat on 3 May, that ASEAN should look beyond the region to deepen our trade and economic cooperation with strategic partners. There is an urgency to this if we look to what is happening elsewhere. For example, the recently-concluded Summit of the Americas agreed to form a mega free trade area by 2005, uniting 34 countries in North, Central and South America. ASEAN cannot afford to be a spectator on the sidelines as this trend of FTAs unfolds and replicates itself elsewhere. We risk being shut out from these FTAs. Singapore's FTA initiatives with key partners outside the region do not undermine ASEAN. On the contrary, they ensure that these countries remain engaged in ASEAN. Our FTAs are open to any country that is willing to undertake the necessary rights and obligations. In particular, we hope that our fellow ASEAN colleagues would join when they are ready, or forge FTAs of their own with their trading partners. Neither will Singapore's FTAs with other countries outside ASEAN provide a backdoor for entry into the ASEAN market. This is precisely why we have rules of origin in AFTA and other FTAs.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
With a focused leadership and a united people, I am confident that Prime Minister Hun Sen and his team will succeed in bringing even greater peace and prosperity to the Cambodian people. I wish you, Mr Prime Minister, and your colleagues, all the very best in these endeavours.
May I now invite all of you to rise and join me in a toast
- to the good health of His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk and Her Majesty Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk;
- to the good health of Your Excellency Samdech Hun Sen and Madam Bun Rany Hun Sen; and
- to the friendship between Cambodia and Singapore.
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