On the morning of March 03, 2000 at 8:30 the Council of Ministers convened a plenary cabinet meeting, presided over by Samdech Hun Sen Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia in order review and pass:

Draft law on the management of mine resource exploitation After the active discussions, the Cabinet achieved the results as follows:

The Cabinet approved the draft law which determines that all mine resources lying under ground, topsoil of land territory, internal water, territorial sea, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone in the Kingdom of Cambodia are considered state properties.

The law is aimed at determining the management and exploitation of mine resources, the use of mine pits as well as any activities concerning the operation of mine exploration in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Mine resources are substances even though in the solid, fluid or gas forms forming naturally from geological evolution or the results of the excavation from subsoil, topsoil, in the sea and seabed such as gems, coals, non-metal mines, metal mines, mineral water, stones, gravel, sand, clay except for crude oil and gas which are under a separate law.

The draft law also states that no private persons or legal entities can explore or exploit mine resource without a mine licence issued by competent institutions.

In exception for:

- Legal proprietors or occupiers of private lands can make use of gravel, sand, stones without holding a licence but are not allowed to transport out of their land borders.

- Khmer citizens can prospect on the state-owned lands without a mine licence provided that the state has not yet provided a mine licence for other persons.

Before entering into exploring and exploiting mine resources in the state-owned areas considered as reserved, nature preservation, or prohibited zones, the concessionaires have to be authorized in writing by competent institutions entitled to monitor those zones. Any persons being in operation of exploring mine resources without a mine licence will be fined between 500,000 and 1,000,000 riels.

In case of repeated offences, they will be fined between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 riels and condemned to imprisonment from one month to one year. Those conducting the exploration in violation of article 7 and 8 of this law will be subject to a fine of between 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 riels or serve from one month to one year term in prison or face both punishments.

Those who excavate mines without a mine licence will be fined in cash three fold of the mine output price and fine between 1,000,000 and 10,000,000 riels per day, counting from the starting to the ending day of illegal excavation. As for equipment and machines they will be sent to the court in order to be confiscated as state properties. In case of repeated offences, the offenders will be imprisoned between one and five years.

Those who are not legal land owners and disrupting mine operation process of the concessionaires holding a proper legal licence will be condemned to imprisonment between 6 days and one month.

For other issues the government leaders imposed some measures as follows:

1. The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation has to push forward road construction process in accordance with the already- planned projects especially the road between Poipet and Siem Reap through BOT system.
2. National Authority Combating Drugs has to more actively continue to fight against drugs.
3. Assign a task for the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation in collaboration with Siem Reap Authority and Apsara Authority to study and repair the road around Angkor.
4. The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy has to study and examine in order to supply more electricity system to the road leading to Angkor and Angkor Wat compound.

The Cabinet meeting ended at 10:30PM.

Phnom Penh, 03 March 2000