Your Excellency, Samdech Prime Minister,
Royal highness and Honorable Colleagues in Government,
Your Excellencies and Representatives,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the last CG meeting, this past June in Phnom Penh, the Royal Government reported significant progress at implementing the Governance Action Plan; the Government also announced its commitment to accelerate the pace of the Legal and Judicial Reform and to introduce a strategy and measures to curb corruption. H.E. Dith Munty, co-chairman of the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform will address developments in the legal and judicial field particularly as they relate to its management structure and the finalization of the strategy and work program. In parallel, I will concentrate my remarks on developments in governance in general and on the fight against corruption, in particular.

I will be brief. There is no need to plead the case of good governance. We are all converts.

To date, GAP initiatives have focused mainly on strengthening or creating institutions, policies and programs necessary for the State to abide by principles of good governance within its jurisdiction and assume requisite levers of governance. Significant progress was made to the point that it is now opportune to update the GAP to reflect the current situation and to focus initiatives in support poverty reduction and development objectives.

Last June, I told you that our objective was to complete the updated GAP by the end of the year. We are a few months late. Scarce resources were busy completing the NPRS and we had to ensure consistency and complementarity among key planning documents. The new version of the GAP will be ready for a last round of internal consultations by mid-February (the Khmer version is essentially completed, attention is now turning to finalizing the English translation). The new GAP will then be widely circulated before being approved by the Council of Ministers around the Khmer New Year.

The National Poverty Reduction Strategy, in particular, addresses many governance related initiatives on a broad front. It focuses on four key cross-cutting governance areas critical to achieving poverty reduction objectives: (1) a justice system that supports development and rights; (2) a system of local governance that empowers people and communities; (3) an Administration that is an effective provider of public services and a trusted partner in development; and, (4) an environment where corruption does not impede development and social justice. Together, these four objectives are essential to good governance becoming the backbone to development and poverty reduction and to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

The Governance Action Plan being prepared focuses on strengthening capacity and on promoting empowerment. It essentially covers the same areas as the NPRS but from a governance perspective: accelerating Rule of Law initiatives in support of rights, social justice, trade, commerce and investment; strengthening checks-and-balances institutions; on supporting social development and poverty reduction; on further integrating Cambodia into the family of Nations with a view to optimizing opportunities for pro-poor trade and investment; and, not the least on combating corruption. The envisioned GAP is foremost about meeting necessary conditions to poverty alleviation. It is about supporting and complementing the NPRS and SEDP II. Its structure will be familiar.

The challenges we face collectively are well known and well documented. The most important include:

• The very scope and breath of reforms underway strain available resources.
• Technical capabilities are limited and operating resources are few.
• Change teams do not have adequate means to support their mission.
• The widespread use of counter-productive procedures and practices.
• Important time lag between conception and implementation.

A few words on the Royal Government’s fight against corruption.

At our last meeting, I outlined the Government’s strategy and approach to combating corruption. The NPRS section dealing with corruption further expands on that outline and identifies priority initiatives. We have circulated the text for ease of reference. Please allow me to quote:

"The Royal Government has elected to approach corruption with a holistic set of measures that address root causes of corruption. Indeed, ways and means to increase risks associated with corrupt practices are an integral part of a strategy. But codes, rules and laws cannot do it alone. Effective and fair enforcement mechanisms are the necessary complement to any legal framework. The Royal Government is actively building such capability while it is putting the finishing touch to what would become an enforceable legal framework.

The Governance Action Plan itself was designed as a sweeping instrument to correct causes to corrupt practices as identified in the anti-corruption survey and other studies. Most planned actions, over a hundred of them, address aspects of the problem. The GAP is, in effect, a comprehensive and ambitious program to combat corruption. Systematic and sustained efforts are arduous. The Royal Government is now preparing an anti-corruption program of actions to better focus efforts." End of quote.

At our last meeting, I laid out six points at the heart of the government’s strategy to combat corruption:

1. The legal framework and procedures must be set in ways that respect the well known principles of good governance particularly as they relate to the delivery of public services.
2. The general public and clients of public services must be aware of and understand that legal framework and procedures;
3. Civil servants must understand them and have the necessary skills and means to implement them effectively and fairly;
4. The civil and criminal codes, an anti-corruption law, codes of ethics and a manual on Requisite logistical support in terms of equipment and operating budget, for example, must be in place and timely;
5. Oversight mechanisms and measures must be in place and institutions to control and monitor implementation must be empowered;
6. Mechanisms to sanction or prosecute wrongdoers must be fair and predictable.

The priorities are to complete the anti-corruption legal framework (the civil and criminal codes, codes of ethics, the anti-corruption law, the manual on the obligations of civil servants); to ensure its fair and efficient implementation and the strengthening of institutions (the Anti-corruption Unit at the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Inspection, the NAA, the Royal School of the Magistracy, and, the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman, administrative and commerce specialized chambers within the court system); and to eliminate causes of corruption by streamlining service delivery processes and make them more transparent (including one window service). Ongoing improvements in the management of natural resources (notably the implementation of the land law and land policy), in the control of public revenues and expenditures and in the management of the Civil Service (automated payroll, for example) are further examples of determined efforts by the Royal Government to do what it can with available means.

Before concluding I would like to make two brief remarks on next steps.

• (1) The Council for Legal and Judicial Reform is putting the final touch to a vision document that would outlines the values being pursued, the strategy to fulfill them and a compendium of initiatives to implement the vision. The document in effect integrates the various planning documents now in circulation into a single, cohesive and holistic program. The Council hopes to complete extensive consultations with all concerned by mid-March and to approve the vision and its program of action before the Khmer New Year. His Excellency, co-chair to the CL&JR, will expand on progress made in reforming the Justice sector.

Samdech Prime Minister, Excellencies

The explanation above clearly express that the Royal Government is actively considering bold new programs to further good governance and to curb corruption including initiatives to complete the legal framework, to strengthen existing institutions and to establish new ones or mechanisms. Urgent technical and financial assistance is required to complete the tasks at hand.

Thank you for your kind attention.