H.E Suy Sem_Opening_Remarks_English.pdf - United Nations in ...

19-05-2010
was not developed. Only after 1999 when the Kingdom of Cambodia fully enjoyed peace and
political stability as a result of the “win-win” policy under the wisdom of Samdech Akka
Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia then
many domestic and foreign investors showed their interests and came to explore and invest
their capitals to conduct research studies and assess the potentials and economic features of
mineral deposits in Cambodia to move toward future mining. As a matter of fact, now there
are approximately 60 companies from Australia, China, Vietnam, Korea, etc. and domestic
companies who have been studying and exploring mineral ores in certain locations of
Cambodia.
Along with the promulgation of the Law on Mineral Resource Management and
Exploitation in 2001, other rules and regulations were issued to ensure effective management
of the mining sector. In 2008, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) offered a
project to study and design a Master Plan aiming at promoting the industrial sector in
Cambodia. That project would be ended at the end of 2010 and apart from the Master Plan for
mining industry promotion, we also received Cambodia Mineral and Geological Map of
1:1,000,000 and 1:200,000 scales, Cambodia Mining Sector Webpage, and short-term
trainings to Mining Officials.
With the objective to obtain experiences, lessons learnt, and best practices in managing
and developing mining sector from other countries, the Ministry of Industry, Mines and
Energy has collaborated with UNDP Cambodia to arrange and organize an International
Mining Conference today with the theme “ Staking a Claim for Cambodia”, a forum that
would offer the entire Conference the opportunity to exchange actual experiences and select
best practices for sustainable, transparent, and highly responsible development of mining
sector in Cambodia.
For this Conference, there are 300 participants from concerned institutions/agencies,
representatives from Embassies to Cambodia, development partners, NGOs, and
representatives from Cambodia’s private sector, and national and international experts in
formulating mining policy, legislation, technical norms and formalities and tax regime to be
applied in the mining sector coming from different countries.
For this 2-day Conference, national and international speakers who used to work over
many years in mining sector, both on legal and extractive industrial aspects, will raise
important topics concerning 1) the Global Context for Mining and Extractive Industries, 2)
Governance and Law on Mining: Roles of the State, 3) Mineral Resource Exploration and
Development: Risks and Returns, 4) Regional and International Experiences and Lessons
Learnt, 5) Environmental Management Process: Importance of Mining Techniques, and 6)
People Dimension: Impacts and Benefits to Workers and Communities to be presented at the
Conference.
Highly Respected Samdech Techo Prime Minister,
Excellencies, Lauk Oknha, Laukchumteav, Ladies and Gentlemen, National and
International Guests,
I hope that this Conference would provide opportunities to those officials who are in
charge of the mining sector and all stakeholders to gain experiences and best practices in
managing and developing the mining sector from developing countries as a ground of wisdom