Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei Héng Samrin, President of the Cambodian National Assembly and Co-President of 11th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP 11), said this afternoon that continued promotion of the culture of dialogue and values of peace between Asia and Europe parliaments is needed.
In his opening speech to the ASEP11, Samdech Heng Samrin said parliaments need to continue promoting the culture of dialogue and values of peace through key parliamentary diplomacy mechanisms including preventive diplomacy to ensure long-term peace, prosperity, social justice, good governance, human rights and the values of democracy.
“Cambodia has been coming from the bitter history after three-decade disaster of war, genocide, economic sanctions, famine and landmine incidents. But Cambodians are enjoying unprecedented peace, political stability and rapid development. The great historical success contributing to the current development has been the Win-Win Policy and national reconciliation efforts,” he said.
International cooperation, globalisation and joint efforts between the leaders and people contributed significantly to Cambodia becoming one of the world's fastest growing economies, he added, underlining that the current development of Cambodia is based on the indispensable preconditions of peace, political stability and contributions of our fellow countries and the international community.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is a growing concern for the entire world, especially developing countries. Rapid economic and social recovery is the top priority for each country with vaccinations being the most important determining factor. In this sense, we need to collaboratively strengthen regional and global actions to increase the production and distribution of vaccines to ensure that everyone is vaccinated. We must remember that no one is safe until everyone is safe,” he pointed out.
At the same time, Samdech Heng Samrin voiced his strong support for the economic recovery strategies put forward by both regions including the Europe Recovery Plan, the ASEAN Recovery Framework and the strategic frameworks of other countries. Promoting an inclusive and open multilateral trading system, maintaining the stability of global supply chains and deepening economic connectivity and integration - both within and between regions are crucial mechanisms for global economic recovery.
The ASEP11 co-president also shared his concern over climate change and frequent impacts such as floods, fires, droughts, heatwaves, typhoons and land degradation which are pressing global challenges and expressed his support for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.
"I would therefore like to take this occasion to welcome the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, reaffirm the shared ambition to achieve a 50 percent reduction of degraded land by 2040, and striving to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030. I also appreciate the commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees," he added.
Samdech Heng Samrin hoped that the ASEP11 forum will be held in a friendly and constructive manner by bringing about discussions on common and practical issues from both regions and setting out solutions that reflect a long-term vision to strengthen and promote regional cooperation. This should be in line with regional and global developments aimed at a progressive, resilient and strong economic recovery from Covid-19 to achieve peace, stability, progress and common prosperity.
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press