1.   The political platform of the RGC for the 3rd legislature of the National Assembly, prepared by the coalition government, focuses on the following fundamental factors:

        •  The entire population of Khmer citizens insist on having peace, national reconciliation, stability, social order, true encouragement of multiparty democracy, respect for rights, freedom and human dignity, national independence, sovereignty and prestige, territorial integrity, and sustainable development, which will provide progress, prosperity, harmony, and a decent livelihood to the nation and all classes of citizens in the whole kingdom of Cambodia.

        •  It is necessary to guarantee the continuity of the state and the work of the state in every sector of management and national leadership. It is especially necessary to guarantee the maintenance and further development of all major achievements earned through the hard efforts of all Khmer citizens under the leadership of the Royal Governments in previous mandates.

        •  It is necessary to have efficiency. This will be achieved by correcting and focusing on broader and more in-depth implementation of policies, strategies, plans, and important reform programs, including the Second Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan and the National Poverty Reduction Strategy prepared by the second-term Royal Government in broad consultation with various circles including state ministries and institutions, civil society, and the donor community. The purpose is to build up the capacity of public institutions, strengthen good governance, and modernize the national economic infrastructure, which will help to promote economic growth, generate employment for all citizens, ensure social equity, enhance the efficiency of the public sector, and protect the nation's natural resources and cultural heritage. All of these are crucial for promoting sustainable development and poverty reduction.

        •  It is necessary for Cambodia to be fully capable of engagement on an equal footing with all partners in regional and international affairs so that Cambodia can enjoy appropriate benefits from the strong current of globalization and integration into the regional and global economy.

     2.  In this regard, important goals of the Royal Government in the 3 rd legislature of the National Assembly are to build up step by step a Khmer society that ensures peace, stability and public order, to eliminate violence, impunity, and all kinds of discrimination in order to construct a society that is full of justice without corruption, and to abide strictly by the principles of free multiparty democracy, protect rights and human dignity, achieve sustainable development, equity, and national unity, and equip the citizens with high knowledge and deep understanding of Khmer culture, decent livelihoods, and harmonious living both inside the society and inside the family.

  I. Political Field

          A. Domestic Policy

     3.   The main goal of the Royal Government's domestic policy the is to strengthen national independence, peace, stability, social order, the rule of law, the development of free multiparty democracy, and respect for rights, freedom, and human dignity in order to create a pure and better society free from corruption that exists in a political environment of national reconciliation so that the independence of the nation is reinforced, customs are protected, social morality and the good traditions of the nation are entrenched, and socio-economic development and poverty reduction are ensured.

Strengthening Peace, Implementing Free Multiparty Democracy, and Respecting Human Rights

      4.   The Royal Government of Cambodia stands fully committed to the policy of national solidarity and the mobilization of national strength contributed by all sectors and all political affiliations, both at home and abroad, harmonized under the motto of "Nation, Religion, King," and thereby united as one to build and defend the nation and protect the achievements of the kingdom of Cambodia in national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace, democracy, and progress, guided by the wisdom and royal leadership of His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, and Her Majesty Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk.

      5.  The Royal Government holds to the policy of strengthening free multiparty democracy and respect for human rights, which are the inescapable components and foundation for the sustainable development of the nation. In this regard, the Royal Government will continue to promote the true process of democratization and liberalization within society by reinforcing social stability, for which the key factors are the development of the economy and improvement of the livelihood of the citizens.

      6.  The Royal Government firmly guarantees arid defends all rights and freedoms of the citizens as prescribed in the Constitution, in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in other treaties and agreements regarding human rights. The Royal Government is determined to prevent and oppose all kinds of discrimination that are contrary to law and human rights, by complying with international agreements and treaties. In this spirit, the Royal Government supports the establishment of a human rights institution at the national level, the "National Committee for Human Rights," which is the highest constitutional institution for human rights in the whole country. This national committee will help promote better respect for the rights and freedoms of the citizens through closely cooperating with other national and international NGOs responsible for human rights and other relevant institutions with the purpose of improving the overall respect for human rights and encouraging citizens to exercise their rights by participating in building the nation with the aim of eliminating violence and impunity to help guarantee real justice for society. The Royal Government will establish an office responsible for human rights to replace the current human rights committee of the Royal Government.

      7. The Royal Government will continue implementing the law on establishing extraordinary chambers in the Cambodian court system to judge crimes committed during the Democratic Kampuchea regime and provide justice to Cambodian citizens who suffered from the genocidal regime, on a basis of peace, national reconciliation, and sovereignty.

In this 3 rd legislature of the National Assembly, the prime minister and members of the Royal Government will come to converse actively with the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions in Article 96 of Chapter 7, Article 121 (new) of Chapter 10 of the Constitution, and Articles 1, 2, and 8 of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Council of Ministers.

Freedom of the Press and Expression

     8. The Royal Government encourages the freedom of the press, freedom of expression, the right to strike, the right to demonstrate peacefully, and the freedom to assemble within the law and valid regulations. These are factors that contribute to the development of the free political will and beliefs of the society. Every public forum is encouraged, including the national congress, in order to elicit the opinions of all classes of citizens and all political trends so that everybody can participate in building and developing the nation. These rights and freedoms must be exercised in accordance with the Constitution and the laws that are in effect, honorably and with dignity, without impinging on other people's reputations and dignity or the good customs of society, public order, and national security. The Royal Government has a policy of strengthening and improving the professionalism of journalists so that they can more actively provide news to the Khmer nation professionally, effectively, truthfully, and transparently.

The Royal Government will try hard to draft the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the National Congress, to be adopted by the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution as soon as possible.

The Royal Government will draft the Law on Demonstrations and Strikes before the end of 2005 after consulting with other stakeholders.

Role of Oppositions

     9.  With the purpose of collecting ideas from all milieus and political trends in order to build the country, the Royal Government continues to support and value highly the role of oppositions in providing constructive criticism, helping to monitor and steer the activities of the Royal Government in its duty of serving the nation's peace, stability, and development. Oppositions have the right to express their political wishes according to the laws in effect and to receive equally rights, freedoms, justice, security, and protection from the Royal Government. However, both the Royal Government and oppositions must consider the interests of the nation, peace, public order, and social stability more important than their own political interests. Only then can Cambodia have united national political strength to defend and build the country.

The Royal Government will officially recognize the importance of oppositions by amending the Law on Political Parties.

Participation of Civil Society

     10.  The Royal Government continues to reinforce the policy on cooperation between the state and civil society in order to strengthen democracy, rights and freedoms, social order, and the supremacy of the law.

     11.  Civil society plays the role of efficient partner of the Royal Government in building the country. With this view, the Royal Government provides all encouragement to NGOs and legal associations that are serving the interests of the citizens in the whole country. The Royal Government welcomes the participation of international NGOs in improving and developing society and the economy as well as supporting and promoting the practice of democracy and respect for human rights. In this spirit, the Royal Government will continue to push for the establishment and implementation of the Law on NGOs and Associations by consulting with the relevant institutions and organizations.

The draft of this law must be submitted to the parliament for adoption before the end of 2005.

The Rule of Law

     12.  The rule of law is the fundamental principle of democracy. It is the basis for good governance and the sustainability of the work of the Royal Government and of all state institutions to guarantee the rights, freedoms, and interests of the citizens and to ensure justice, harmony, and the survival of the nation. The Royal Government will continue to complete the laws, especially all the laws that are specified in the Constitution. It also disseminates the laws and other norms, broadly and effectively strengthens the enforcing of the laws and general respect for the law, and encourages civic educational initiatives and dissemination of the laws by NGOs and commune councils. Not a single criminal can retain impunity. The laws must apply to every citizen in the whole country, and they are compulsory without exception. The Royal Government will try its best to eliminate murders and will give high priority to investigations in order to arrest and sentence criminals no matter what their motives.

Reforms

     13.  The Royal Government continues to strive for implementation of state reforms according to the principles of good governance, primarily prioritizing public administration, combating corruption, reform of the armed forces including military demobilization, economic and financial reform, land and natural resources administration, and the development of social affairs. The primary goal of these reforms is to improve good governance, increase the capacity of public institutions, and improve public services.

     14.  In the whole work of reform, the Royal Government gives primary priority to the improvement of the public service, i.e. making it more transparent, reducing the level of bureaucracy and intervention to the minimum, providing public services in a simplified and easy way, providing services according to priorities, and providing services to the locations where citizens need them. With this goal, the relation between the state and the citizens must be completely changed from one of “administrators and those administrated" to one of "service providers and service users." This is the first principle for future reforms.

In this regard, service users have the right to receive public services without being discriminated against because of their political parties or political views. Moreover, in order to ensure the neutrality of public institutions, the Royal Government will most strictly enforce the laws and norms that prohibit civil servants, soldiers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and officers of the National Police abusing their positions to benefit any political party.

     15.   Fields prioritized for reform and other important goals and actions include:

• Public Administration Reform: focuses on guaranteeing provision of quality and efficient public services to citizens, with priority given to four areas:

        i.  Services related to the sovereignty of the state (for example: civil registration and issuance of permits and land titles)

        ii.  Services relating to investment

        iii.  Local services (education and health)

        iv.  Services relating to the income and expenditure of the state

Procedures for receiving services will be corrected and simplified by removing duplication, reducing the level of bureaucracy, practicing the principle of de-concentration, decentralizing at the commune/sangkat level, establishing "one-stop" services, and establishing an ombudsman's office. All of these procedures will be included step by step in an information technology system in order to strengthen transparency and assist in reducing corruption. Special attention will be given to strengthening the management of civil servants by making public administration close to the citizens through de-concentration and decentralization. Especially power must be delegated from above to lower levels quickly, and the role, power, and responsibilities of provincial, district, and communal authorities will be clearly defined. Information technology will be used, and the strategy of rationalizing public functions will be continued in order gradually to increase the salaries of all civil servants by 10% to 15% per year.

Decentralization at the commune level is the key to strengthening local democracy, to improving the quality of public services, and to promoting development in all sectors at the local level with the participation of local inhabitants. The main priorities in this field are to build up local administrative capacity, provide appropriate financial resources, and promote a culture of citizens' participation in all work. Decentralization must go side by side with the de-concentration targeted especially at capacity building at the provincial/municipal and district/khan levels in order to guarantee easy collaboration and mutual support as well as complementary assistance provided to the local level. In this context, the Royal Government will organize village chiefs, deputy village chiefs, and village members as soon as possible within 2005 in accordance with the principle of commune/sangkat decentralization.

•   Legal and Judicial System Reform: The Royal Government promotes the independence and neutrality of the judicial system as specified in the Constitution. For this goal, the Supreme Council of the Magistracy must function with real independence. The Royal Government will put more effort into promoting legal and judicial reform and ensuring the independence of the court system by implementing key policies and strategies developed by the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform, thereby enhancing the national and international confidence, and by closely cooperating with donor partners to strengthen the rule of law, promote social justice, reduce corruption, eliminate the culture of impunity, and strengthen the culture of peace and the supremacy of law.

          The Royal Government will prepare priority action programs and projects that will steadily reform the judicial and legal. system, focusing on finalizing and submitting to the National Assembly basic draft laws such as the Statue of Judges, the Law on Organization of Courts, the Criminal Code, the Law on Criminal Procedures, the Civil Code, the Law on Civil Procedures, the Law on the Organization and Functioning of Notaries Public, and the Law on the Organization and Functioning of Bailiffs. Other laws and regulations are also necessary to complete the legal framework required for Cambodia 's full international engagement, especially within ASEAN and the World Trade Organization. More importantly, the Royal Government will establish necessary specialized courts such as a commercial tribunal, a juvenile tribunal, a labor tribunal, and an administrative tribunal. Moreover, pilot courts will be gradually introduced to enhance the quality and effectiveness of judicial services. Another priority is the enhancement of the capacity and responsibility of judges through enforcement of the Statute of Judges and improved discipline through enforcement of the Code of Conduct and through initial training and cascade training. Judges who are 60 years of age or older will be entitled to retire.

          Moreover, the Royal Government will establish institutions for training court clerks, bailiffs, and notaries. On the same basis, judicial police will receive training and will be strictly managed. Meanwhile, the Royal Government will pay more attention to the provision of legal aid (for instance, through the provision of lawyers) to the poor so that they can seek justice and defend their own interests. As well, the Royal Government will enhance mechanisms for dispute resolution outside the court system, particularly in connection with unregistered land, in order to resolve such issues for citizens. The Royal Government will push to draft within 2005 the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Council of Royal Wealth in accordance with the Constitution.

• Armed Forces Reform and Demobilization: The Royal Government will continue to implement the policies in the “White Book” of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, including the distribution of social concession lands to demobilized landless soldiers who request land for residences and/or family farming, in conformity with the Sub-Decree on Social Concession Lands. The Royal Government will continue to strengthen policies for national police reform as well by giving special priority to the preparation to join the remuneration systems of the national police and military with the remuneration system of civil servants.

The Royal Government will complete the remaining demobilization of soldiers at the end of 2004.

• Combating Corruption: The Royal Government will push for the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Law and the establishment of an independent and neutral institution to fight corruption within 2005, and will also promote effectiveness, transparency, and accountability in the management of public finances, especially through the strengthening of audits and public procurement. The Royal Government will also promote reforms related to all fields in order to guarantee good governance, especially implementing the Governance Action Plan, which has been developed with broad participation from various state ministries and institutions, civil society, and donor partners. From this 3rd legislature onwards, the Royal Government will allow the relevant ministries and institutions to examine all commercial contracts and concession contracts regarding natural resources and state assets.

The draft of the Anti-Corruption Law, which was submitted to the 2nd legislature of the National Assembly, must be reviewed in consultation with all stakeholders.

• Economic and Financial Reform: This will focus mainly on modernizing the structure of the national economy and financial system and implementing the principles of good governance so as to increase income for the state and to examine budget expenditures.
• Land Administration Reform: The Royal Government will continue to implement the Land Law and land policy. The Royal Government will focus primarily on strengthening the system of land management, division, and usage with equity and the guarantee of economic efficiency through land registration, land division, guarantees for the safety of land ownership, elimination of the anarchy of illegal ownership, and proper measures to prevent accumulation of land without using it for manufacturing or business, etc. The Royal Government will review the unused state land and state held by the private sector contrary to the letter of legal standards and procedures already established. The Royal Government will continue to prioritize strengthening the right of land ownership for citizens who need land for residence, business, or family farming within the framework of concession land for social affairs, relying on the principle of supporting the poor and vulnerable.
• Natural Resource Administration: This will focus mainly on the reform of fishing through thorough research. The Royal Government will transform some of the fishing lots whose concession contracts have expired into fish sanctuaries, thereby increasing natural fish stocks, and conserve endangered species. Community-based fishing lots will be expanded and aquaculture promoted to respond to the increasing demands for fish as well as to reduce the pressure on fish resources.

          The Royal Government will take action to strengthen sustainable environmental protection and management of forest resources by standing on three important pillars:

           i.  Sustainable forest management policy, with strict monitoring of forest exploitation according to international best practice, which will require adequate forest reserves for domestic consumption, protection against drought and floods, and protection of wetlands that serve as fish sanctuaries.

          ii.  A system to protect natural resources, biodiversity, and endangered species.

          iii.  A community forestry development program that is sound, transparent, and locally managed.

The Royal Government has suspended and reviewed all remaining forest concessions to assess the current situation and ensure efficient management. At the same time, the Royal Government will also continue to promote reforestation.

     B. National Defense and Security Policy

      16.  The Royal Government of Cambodia holds firmly to the purpose of strengthening peace, stability, security, and public order. On this basis, it will continue to reinforce the work of reforming all armed forces, which will include a clear count of the actual number of troops, to strengthen quality and ensure a consistent loyalty to the nation, to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution, and to ensure good discipline and morality and high professionalism, which will make these forces highly efficient in performing their duty to defend the country, ensure national security, and maintain public order in all circumstances.

     17.  The Royal Government will continue to build and strengthen the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces as a unified national military that has just enough troops and sufficient capacity to protect independence, sovereignty, the integrity of the country's land, water, and air, all achievements of the nation, and its authorities and citizens. The military will become a strong force that actively participates in building the country and rescuing citizens in times of disaster.

     18.  The Royal Government will pay more attention to building professionalism and to helping stabilize the livelihoods of demobilized soldiers who return to their homes as normal citizens. At the same time, the Royal Government will continue to concentrate on raising the livelihood of actively serving soldiers and will continue to implement well the pension policy for disabled veterans, families of deceased soldiers, soldiers unable to work, and veterans. Priority will also be given to the construction of barracks with the aim of strengthening discipline and military strategies and training, educating, recruiting, and increasing human resources in order to build up permanent active military forces with high skills and professionalism.

     19.  The Royal Government will continue to build up and strengthen the National Police to become a force equipped with high professionalism, modern technology, and a spirit of responsibility, which strictly abides by the laws, respects human rights, serves the citizens honestly, has the capacity to achieve good management, security, and public order, protecting the lives and property of the citizens, protecting the citizens' rights of expression through legal demonstrations and strikes, as well as protecting concord in society.

     20.  The Royal Government will continue to participate actively with the international community in promoting cooperation to prevent and fight against all kinds of terrorism and subversive activities inside and outside the country. In this regard, the Royal Government holds firmly to the policy that absolutely prohibits illegal militants who wish to create instability in Cambodia or use Cambodian territory to act against neighboring countries. The Royal Government is determined to take all necessary action to increase effectiveness in preventing and suppressing all kinds of crime, especially drug abuse and trafficking, trafficking of women and children, kidnapping, armed robbery, sexual abuse, and other violations that create fear in society and cause morality to decline.

     21.  The Royal Government is determined to enforce the Law on Citizenship and Law on Immigration in order to protect the interests of Khmer citizens. Legal immigrants will be respected and protected by law. All violations by foreigners and all problems regarding immigrants will be resolved thoroughly in accordance with the legal provisions in effect and with equality for citizens of every nationality. In this regard, the Royal Government will examine the possibility of establishing a Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship at an appropriate time.

     22.  The Royal Government is firmly determined to improve the working conditions and living conditions of all the armed forces and to increase the participation of every citizen in maintaining peace, stability, security, and public order.

     C. Foreign Policy

     23.  The strategic foreign policy of the Royal Government of Cambodia is targeted at lifting the reputation and prestige of the nation on the international stage, increasing Cambodian participation in regional and global affairs, and increasing international assistance in order to promote the development of the economy and the decent and civilized livelihoods of the citizens, and to strengthen national defense by seeking to widen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

     24.  The Royal Government holds to a foreign policy that is independent, neutral, and non-aligned and seeks to strengthen friendship and close cooperation with other countries in the region and around the globe regardless of political ideology, based on the principle of equality and non-interference in internal affairs and mutual respect of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity for mutual benefit and the development of the economy, technology, and science of each country. The Royal Government will continue to respect and follow the one China policy in all circumstances.

     25. The Royal Government is determined to protect the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and neutrality of the kingdom of Cambodia based on Article 55 of the Constitution and in accordance with the United-Nations Charter and other international laws. On this basis, the Royal Government will encourage the border committee of the Royal Government, which was composed of the two parties, to continue to negotiate with neighboring countries in order to determine the borders, to set up border markers, and to delineate the border in order to establish a border acknowledged internationally, especially by the two countries. In order to achieve this, Cambodia will base itself on legality and maps left from the colonial period when we received our independence in 1953 -- especially, as prescribed in the Constitution, based on every decision made by the governor of Indochina and the map of Indochina, scaled 1:100,000, made between 1933 and 1953, which the king submitted to the United Nations to be acknowledged internationally during the 1960s Sangkum Reastr Niyum and which was internationally acknowledged between 1963 and 1969 to guarantee 181,035 km 2 of Cambodian territory. Moreover, in order to implement this policy effectively, the Royal Government will propose to the king to issue a royal decree to establish a supreme national council for border issues that will be composed of the following:

•  Representative of the King                                   as   president

•  Representative of the Senate                                as   vice-president

•  Representative of the National Assembly (NA)    as   vice-president

•  Representative of the Royal Government              as   member

•  Representative of the parties in the NA                as   member

     26.  The Royal Government will continue to push the integration of Cambodia into the region and the world, specifically focusing on bridging the development gap among members of ASEAN by promoting full partnership in the implementation of the various elements of the Initiatives for ASEAN Integration adopted by the ASEAN summits, in particular the measures and projects adopted by the 8th Summit in November 2002 in Phnom Penh. In this context, the Royal Government will continue to promote dialogue among ASEAN countries in order to attract development donations, within both multilateral and ASEAN frameworks, to serve this purpose. The Royal Government will also continue its active participation in implementing the Greater Mekong Sub-region Program, especially the flagship programs adopted by the 1st Summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region in Phnom Penh in November 2002 and the projects under the “development triangle” zones between Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos and between Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, and the economic cooperation strategy among Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.

     27.  The Royal Government supports and firmly holds to the principle of peaceful coexistence in international relation, which is a firm foundation that ensures the protecting and strengthening of peace, stability, and security in the region and in the world. At the same time, the Royal Government supports the resolving of disputes in the region as well as in each country through peaceful political negotiation. The Royal Government absolutely protests against arms races and the use of space for military purposes, and it supports the reduction of all kinds of weapon, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapon, chemical weapons, and biological weapons, and stopping the production, trafficking, and use of landmines.

     28.  In this spirit, the Royal Government will continue to participate actively in the joint efforts of the regional and international community to resolve major issues that have recently arisen around the globe, including peace, terrorism, food, health, environment, cross-border crime, and especially the trafficking of women, children, drugs, and illegal weapons.

 

  II. Economy

          A. General Principles of Economic Policy

     29.  The primary purpose of the economic policy of the Royal Government is to ensure a macroeconomic and financial environment that encourages sustainable economic growth in order to reduce the poverty of the citizens through broadly expanding the foundations and sources of economic growth, seeking and using all possible local potentials by protecting natural and human resources so that the economy is balanced in order to reduce the poverty gap, increase local investment, and especially encourage the development of small and medium enterprises and local crafts, strengthen entrepreneurship and the capacity of the private sector, attract foreign investment, promote bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation for development, coordinate policy with the donor community, strengthen governance by especially aiming to eliminate corruption, and to encourage reform programs in all fields, making them broader and deeper. These tasks must be merged and intertwined to support each other for the purpose of economic and social development.

     30.  The Royal Government will continue to support a market economy and will prepare a legal system to support and manage market activities, creating a more stable economy in order to promote the growth of private sector economic activities, which play an important role in economic growth. While firmly holding to the principle of market economy, the Royal Government realizes that the partnership between the Royal Government and the private sector can be strengthened by sound intervention from the state in the economy, combined with the preparation and strict enforcement of laws as well as highly effective coordination and consultation between state institutions and civil society, especially unions and relevant international organizations. By doing this, we can ensure freedom, transparency, and the confidence of the private business sector through the guarantee of legal ownership, freedom of hiring and doing business, labor protection, and fair competition within the framework of a free market, and we can also estimate the supply of support services from state institutions. On the other hand, we can also ensure the justice and social equity, both of which are necessary factors for poverty reduction and long-term social stability.

     31.  By holding to the principle of democracy, the rule of law, good governance, market economy, and negotiation in sharing the benefits of the whole economy, the Royal Government will steer the economic process, giving it more stability and higher growth, dynamism, rapid structural reforms, full integration, and the strength to withstand external shocks.

          B. Macroeconomic and Public Finance Management

     32.  Based on this foundation and building on previous achievements in managing the economy and finance, the Royal Government will continue to try to achieve high economic growth in the range of 6% to 7% annually in the context of keeping inflation in single digits, keeping the exchange rate stable, and increasing international reserves regularly. In this regard, the Royal Government will continue to implement a prudent monetary policy and floating market-based exchange rate. The policy of de-dollarization will be continued with cautious steps according to the progress of the domestic and international economies.

     33.  Strict budget management discipline is crucial to ensuring a favorable macroeconomic and financial environment to consolidate a firm foundation for the national economy and ensure sustainable and equitable growth. The Royal Government is committed to improving the collection of taxes and non-tax revenues and to the strict enforcement of the Law on Taxation, the combating of corruption and tax evasion, the dismantling of the culture of tax exemptions, broadening the tax base, strengthening the capacity of tax and customs administration, and the guarantee of proper and strict management of all kinds of state assets, including tangible and intangible properties, including the property of state enterprises and state joint ventures. The Royal Government will continue to privatize rubber plantations and draft a Law on Casino Administration. The Royal Government will continue examining expenditures based on transparency, accountability, and economic efficiency, especially through strengthening the auditing and public procurement mechanisms, giving high priority to social welfare expenditures and public investment, especially in physical infrastructure. Every budget operation, both revenues and expenditures, must be carried out in accordance with rules and procedures.

     34.  The Royal Government knows clearly that Cambodia cannot rely solely on foreign assistance. Therefore, increasing domestic savings is crucial for Cambodia 's long-term economic development. To serve this goal, the Royal Government will continue to take action to strengthen the domestic banking system to ensure good management with proper and strict supervision and with sufficient competence and efficiency in mobilizing savings to finance increased private sector activity and promote economic growth. It is an important part of this work that the Royal Government will continue to promote rural finance in order to provide financial services and loans at the lowest interest possible -- using market methods to reduce the interest rate to the level in other ASEAN countries -- to the poor, low-income families, and small and medium enterprises in order to promote rural economy and raise the living standards of citizens in remote areas. Moreover, the Royal Government will pay more attention to preparing the system of laws, regulations, and mechanisms of other financial institutions to accumulate domestic resources that are currently scattered, through continuously reforming and improving the tax system, strengthening commercial banks and the insurance sector, and establishing a capital market, etc, which is consistent with the "Visions and Plans for Financial Sector Development for 2001-2010," developed with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank and adopted by the Royal Government in August 2001.

          C. Economic Policy by Sector

Agriculture

     35.  The agricultural policy of the Royal Government will focus on promoting agriculture into a leading sector that can provide additional power for economic growth and contribute significantly to poverty reduction. The Royal Government will increase the use of domestic resources to promote agricultural intensification and diversification in order to bolster economic growth, create employment, and generate income in rural areas, thus ensuring nutritional improvement, food security, and increased agricultural exports.

     36.  The Royal Government will create a favorable environment for the participation of the private sector in promoting agricultural growth by accelerating the provision of land titles in rural areas to strengthen the security of agricultural land ownership, land expansion, agricultural land division within the framework of social land concessions, irrigation system development, water resource management with attention to increasing productivity of the existing water system, creating further water user communities and enhancing their quality, reduction of vulnerability to natural disasters and total reliance on natural conditions, etc. To lighten the burden on poor farmer families, the Royal Government will continue to exempt from tax the agricultural lands of family farmers.

     37.  To increase agricultural productivity, the Royal Government will put more emphasis on expanding support services such as: research and extension, development of markets for agricultural products, distribution of equipments, seeds, and fertilizer, and provision of rural credit at low interest, etc. Based on the policy of decentralization, the Royal Government will delegate these duties step by step to commune councils, which will be transformed into development authorities and the agents that transfer knowledge and skills to local farmers. Also in this framework, the Royal Government will examine the possibility of setting up agricultural technology schools in some provinces to provide study opportunities for men and women in rural areas so that they can increase their professionalism and use it in developing their communities. Moreover, the Royal Government will also examine the possibility of establishing agricultural development centers and model farms in some districts in order to train farmers in agricultural technology, hydro-farming technology, and high-productivity animal husbandry technology, and rotation farming, and disseminate market information. In addition, the Royal Government will put special emphasis on directing public investment and encouraging private investment in agriculture to increase production while ensuring that the quantity and quality of Cambodian agricultural products meet international standards.

     38.  The Royal Government will continue to accord priority to the development of border and remote areas to control migration, by preparing and setting up residential areas that have proper infrastructure, especially roads, and development villages along the border in order to improve the livelihoods and participation of the citizens in economic activities

     39.  The Royal Government will continue to promote the "one-village, one-product" movement to raise the creativity and confidence of rural citizens by adopting four principles: first, seeking production that fits the actual situation of the village and market demand; second, facilitating and encouraging citizens in production by seeking markets, providing credit, transferring technology, and providing seeds, etc.; third, building management capacity and developing human resources; and fourth, facilitating the creation of agricultural communities to ensure low production costs.

Industry

     40.  A key strategy of the industrial policy of the Royal Government is to expand the economic interaction between agriculture and industry by promoting agro-industry into an essential core of Cambodian industry in order to improve the industrial structure so that it will not rely too much on textiles.

     41.  In this regard, the Royal Government will encourage processing industries that provide an opportunity to use Cambodian comparative advantage to compete on regional and international markets, especially in industries that process natural agricultural products and in labor-intensive industries. Toward this goal, the Royal Government will continue to aim at improving the investment environment, increasing technology transfer, and increasing professionalism training, including by establishing industrial zones and export processing zones supplied with quality physical infrastructure and services, establishing national standards institutions and national laboratories, and strengthening the legal framework in order to ensure efficiency and transparency in the enforcement of laws and regulations. The Royal Government will review the draft of the Law on Industrial Zones, considering points related to the enforcement of labor law in that area.

     42.  The Royal Government will continue to prioritize promotion of non-metal mining, which includes limestone, clay, and kaolin and which can supply raw materials to cement, tile, ceramic, and brick factories; the processed timber and timber products industry; electronics assembly; machine processing of fish and meat; and factories that process other f farm products such as hemp, tobacco, cashew nuts, coffee, palm oil, rubber, sugar cane, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, etc.

     43.  In order to achieve these priorities, the Royal Government will continue to encourage investment by focusing on resolving governance problems, facilitating administrative procedures, and reducing the number of inspections. Special attention will be given to promoting small and medium industry as well as domestic industry so that this field is capable of producing some products to meet domestic demand instead of imports, especially to serve the tourism market, and in the future these products may be exported. These factors also require the implementation of programs to increase the quality of professional training and tertiary education by uniting theory with practice and real production activities, as well as programs targeted at growing a spirit of entrepreneurship and practical competence in learners so that they know how to start a business, farm, or enterprise, and this will create employment for citizens. The Royal Government will strengthen enforcement of the Law on Social Security and the Labor Law within the industrial zones.

     44. The Royal Government will continue to encourage research and exploration into petroleum and gas so that this field can contribute to national economic growth and development according to Cambodia 's potential. At the same time, the Royal Government will try to solve the problem of overlapping maritime boundaries as soon as possible in order to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Physical Infrastructure

     45.  Transportation networks are the arteries that connect all comers of the kingdom of Cambodia and thereby transform the country into an integrated economy. Transport networks are instrumental in integrating domestic markets and facilitating Cambodia's integration into the regional and world economies, Moreover, physical infrastructure plays a pivotal role as the "locomotive of economic growth," significantly contributing to poverty reduction and the alleviation of people's hardships.

     46.  Based on this philosophy, the Royal Government will continue to accord high priority to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of all kinds of enduring transportation systems, including roads, bridges, railroads, waterways, ports, and airports that link all parts of the country and link the country itself to neighboring countries to form a transportation network that is convenient, safe, economically efficient, and inexpensive to facilitate trade, promote tourism and rural development, economic integration into the region and the world, and especially to serve national defense. High priority will be given to further construction of rural roads, coupled with road maintenance to ensure the stability of transport and travel. The Royal Government will further its efforts in rehabilitating and developing railroads and promoting rail transport of bulk and heavy goods. Civil aviation will be further enhanced to ensure the significant contribution of civil aviation services to economic growth, especially the field of national tourism.

     i.  At the same time, the Royal Government will continue to focus on the development of other important physical infrastructure, which includes:

     ii.  Further developing energy in order to meet the increasing demand for energy at a reasonable price. The Royal Government will give high priority to attracting the participation of the private sector in supplying electricity, especially to provincial centers and important residential areas, to implementing quality and inexpensive electrification projects in rural areas, and to building transmission lines for importing energy from neighboring countries. The Royal Government will make every effort to generate our own electricity.

     iii.  Increasing the capacity to produce clean water to meet the daily needs of citizens and to serve production, giving priority to Phnom Penh suburbs and the suburbs of some important provinces/cities.

     47.  As part of Cambodia 's membership in the WTO, providing opportunities to invest in developing the postal and telecommunications system. This is intended to develop information technology of high quality meeting international standards at reasonable prices and modem services that cover the whole country.

     48.  The Royal Government will encourage the participation of the private sector in developing all types of physical infrastructure.

The Royal Government will review and evaluate the contract relevant to the business on National Road #4, including the tolls for using this road paid by all types of vehicle.

Trade

     49.  At present, the entire globe recognizes that free trade contributes significantly to poverty reduction and improvement of the living standards of citizens. The Royal Government will continue to liberalize trade and ensure the free flow of goods and services both within the country and between Cambodia and other key partners in the region and around the world. Access for Cambodian products to vast regional and global markets without barriers will provide Cambodia the opportunity for huge economies of scale that will benefit it by boosting investment and increasing employment, incomes, and overall economic growth, all of which are essential for poverty reduction. In this regard, Cambodia 's participation in the ASEAN Free Trade Area and accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) constitute strategic and historic steps in its rehabilitation and development of.

     50.  Moreover, membership in the WTO corresponds to the correct course of modernizing the legal system, building the capacity of institutions, adjusting the national economic structure, and liberating trade and investment with the aim of integrating Cambodia into the regional and global system of economies and markets, and especially of strictly following the principle of democracy, respect for human rights, and the transparent and predictable principles of a market economy. The Royal Government will continue to push for in-depth reforms in all relevant fields so that Cambodia can benefit appropriately from such integration and that all the obligations of integration will also be completely fulfilled.

     51.  In trade, the Royal Government will focus strongly on increasing supply capacity, building the competence of exporting enterprises (Development of Private Sector in Trade) in order to strengthen the balance of payments, regionalization, and decentralization in accordance with the geographical location of Cambodian products. It will focus on maintaining and expanding domestic and foreign markets for Cambodian products, especially through the promotion of production, diversification, and the guarantee of product quality, corresponding to the market demand, protection of intellectual rights, prevention of product falsification, and the reinforcement of product quality control in order to encourage production and ensure the safety of consumption.

     52.  The Royal Government will continue the policy of opening sea zones by preparing, strengthening, and establishing additional state or private international ports to promote imports and exports.

     53.  Special priority will be given to the construction of small marketplaces in communes or villages in order to facilitate the flow of products at the grassroots and the stabilizing of prices of necessary goods such as food, gasoline, and goods of daily use. The Royal Government will consider the price of gasoline as one of its important priorities and will study and take effective action to maintain a more reasonable price of gasoline comparable to the price in neighboring countries.

Tourism

     54.  The Royal Government will continue to develop tourism, which includes cultural and natural tourism, which has a huge potential to promote economic growth, by establishing more resorts for natural and cultural tourism in Phnom Penh, areas around Phnom Penh, beaches, northeastern areas, and in some other provinces/cities and rural areas.

     55. To this end, the Royal Government will promote public investment and encourage private investment to build the tourism infrastructure and services of high quality meeting regional and international standards. Another important priority is to reserve cultural and traditional heritage and the natural environment of the nation based on the principle of "conservation with development," preventing all negative effects of tourism.

The Royal Government will promote art and cultural crafts and restaurants that serve Khmer-style food and use domestic agricultural products.

     56.  In addition to diversifying tourism products, especially in areas other than Siem Reap province, the Royal Government will concentrate on managing places to attract tourists, improving tourism information, controlling the quality and price of tourism services, and increasing advertising and seeking tourism markets, especially through the use of information technology.

 

  III. Education, Health, Social Affairs, and Culture

Education

     57.  The primary goal of education is to improve the capacity of human resources, providing high skills in technology and science that correspond to the effective demand for labor, giving people a spirit of entrepreneurship and high creativity, a spirit of responsibility, discipline, high morality and virtue, professional ethics, and a gentle personality and honesty in order to promote national development.

     58.  The Royal Government will continue to achieve "education for all" by ensuring equity in primary education, which lasts for 9 years, for every child and facilitating favorable conditions to allow the children of poor citizens to attend school, especially by strengthening and expanding public academic institutions and increasing scholarships for poor students. It will continue to strengthen the partnership between the private sector and national and international communities in order to raise the quality of secondary education, professional and vocational training, and tertiary education to comply with international standards and the demands of national development.

     59.  The Royal Government will continue to spend more funds and seek more foreign aid to subsidize teachers, ensure training quality, increase supplies of study materials, libraries, and laboratories, and establish dormitories for students, especially female students. It will continue to encourage curriculum reform, provide scholarships for poor students, provide funds for building rural schools and for running other academic institutions, and promote literacy and informal education programs.

Youth and Sports

     60.  The Royal Government will continue to educate every Khmer citizen, especially youths, to be proud of the nation without racial discrimination, to love manual labor, to make use of technical skills and technology, and to have a good attitude of protecting public property. The Royal Government will establish centers for civic education, establish additional public libraries, expand dialogues between teachers and parents or guardians of students, and promote the scout movement, which is an effective way of educating and training youths' minds, understanding, spirits, and bodies. It will also organize more youth sport competitions and encourage more participation of Cambodian sportspeople in national, regional, and international competitions by gradually building up the abilities of national sportspeople.

Health

     61.  The Royal Government will increase the use of public resources and international assistance as well as continuing to encourage the private sector to increase investment in health care in order to improve the health of citizens. Priority will be given to the construction of referral hospitals and health centers all over the country that can provide local health services in an efficient, equitable, and sustainable manner to all, especially the poor and vulnerable groups. The Royal Government will continue to focus on prevention programs and combating communicable diseases and will promote maternal and child health care to reduce maternal and infant mortality, improve emergency services and provide broad health and sanitation education and information, especially to rural areas. Poor citizens shall be entitled to free health care in referral hospitals and health centers. The Royal Government will expand equity funds designed to help poor citizens receive quality health services. It is strongly committed to preparing and implementing laws and regulations in order to ensure a high standard of quality health services, medicines, and food safety. It will continue the policy of encouraging the use of traditional medicines with appropriate information and control in conjunction with modern medicines.

The Royal Government will increase the number of competent health officials and distribute them to referral hospitals and health centers.

Social Affairs and Employment

     62.  The Royal Government will increase its intervention in social affairs by strengthening cooperation with national and international organizations to improve employment opportunities, reduce the vulnerability of poor citizens, enhance emergency assistance to victims of natural disasters and calamities, and expand rehabilitation programs for the disabled, including welfare improvement programs for the elderly, orphans, female victims, the homeless, and veterans and their families. The Royal Government will urge owners of enterprises and factories to provide a proper environment and sanitation at their respective factories.

The Royal Government will continue to support attentively the handicapped and the families of soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the country. It will also encourage the owners of enterprises and factories to provide fair wages and gradually introduce pension schemes for workers according to labor market conditions.

     63.  The Royal Government will encourage a systematic and consistent policy that creates more jobs for youths who reach the age of entering the labor market, and for all Cambodian laborers, by means of actions that encourage domestic investment and attract foreign direct investment in prioritized fields, especially agriculture, agro-industry, labor-intensive industries, and tourism, and by establishing a network of vocational and professional training for the poor to meet the demand of the labor market, this network being coupled with employment centers for youths, especially for those who have just graduated from school. It will also prepare a system of employment statistics. Attention will also be especially focused on strengthening the control of foreign workers in Cambodia with the purposes of resolving employment issues for citizens and absorbing new technology for developing the country.

The Royal Government will check and monitor Khmer laborers transported to work abroad and will severely punish any individuals and their accomplices who are involve in human trafficking.

     64. The Royal Government will seriously enforce the Labor Law and international conventions on the role of trade unions in order to ensure the rights and benefits of workers, employees, and employers. At the same time, it will put special priority on improving work conditions, enhancing enforcement of the Law on Social Security, encouraging a pension policy especially for those who have lost their ability to work and for their dependants, and enforce insurance for work accidents as stipulated in the Labor Law.

To implement the above tasks, officers will receive ongoing training aimed at building their capacities.

The Royal Government will establish a Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training separate from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Women and Children

     65.  The Royal Government will give high priority to promoting the role and social status of Cambodian women by focusing on gender issues, capacity building for women in all fields, changing social attitudes that discriminate against women, preventing domestic violence, and ensuring the rights of women to participate actively and equally in building the nation. Every woman has the right to receive medical care, education, all levels of vocational training, equitable economic resources, opportunities to participate equally in socio-economic development, and legal protection with justice in order to ensure equality between men and women and to help women escape domestic violence and sexual trafficking. The Royal Government will take action to ensure the maximum participation rate of women in all institutions, from the national to the local level. The Royal Government will attend to children and mothers by encouraging the establishment of baby centers and by supporting women who have many children and have no one to rely on in order to achieve the above-mentioned goals.

     66. Children are the future of the nation. Therefore, the Royal Government will continue to promote the four fundamental rights of children in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. To this end, the Royal Government will put more effort into strengthening the activities of the National Council for Children, expanding children protection networks at the community level, and promoting programs that provide support to vulnerable children such as orphans, disabled children, and children of the poor. The Royal Government is determined to take all necessary action to prevent exploitation and trafficking of children, including illegal child labor, child prostitution, and other immoral actions against children. This work must go hand in hand with education, strengthened law enforcement, rehabilitation and vocational training, and professional training for children so that they can become good citizens.

Culture

     67.  On the basis of protecting, conserving, and strengthening the national identity, the Royal Government will promote the culture, tradition, and customs of the nation. At the same time, it acknowledges the importance of having a multi-cultural Cambodian society.

     68.  In this spirit, the Royal Government will continue to encourage culture by providing sufficient capacity, including funds, with the aim of transforming Cambodia into a center for disseminating Khmer culture and making use of all potential national cultural assets and heritage.

     69. The Royal Government will increase its attention and obligate itself to maintaining and protecting ancient temples and antiquities, improving historical resorts, promoting cultural legacy and Khmer civilization, protecting the survival of the culture, traditions, language, and beliefs of native ethnic groups in the strong current of globalization and regionalization, giving opportunities and attracting the ethnic groups to participate in developing the nation, encouraging the production and consumption of Khmer cultural products, and trying to stop the inflow of bad foreign cultures.

     70.  The Royal Government will strengthen the dissemination and enforcement of the Law on Protection of Cultural Inheritance and will take effective action to prevent and thoroughly punish the crime of destroying national cultural assets. The surroundings of national heritage sites as well as sites that are considered world heritage are reserved zones in which no military, industrial, commercial, or business activities are allowed that might damage these national assets and the surrounding tourist environment.

     71.  The Royal Government will continue to encourage respect for freedom of belief and religion, to promote the role of religion in developing the spirit of morality, virtue, and the culture of peace in order to ensure a harmonious lifestyle in society, and to support Buddhism, the state religion, and other religions by encouraging the development of Buddhist study at all levels and by allowing legal studies and research in other religions.

* * *

     72.  Since this political platform is the common vision of the nation and the mission statement and the will of the Royal Government in the 3 rd legislature of the National Assembly, and is based on the needs and important interests of the country and its citizens, based on agreement among all partners in the Royal Government, based on major achievements of the Royal Government in previous mandates, and based on all the strategic plans and systematic and consistent reform programs in all sectors, which were prepared with broad participation from national and international public opinion, the Royal Government firmly believes that this political platform will demonstrate its historic value, and the words and spirit of this document will be implemented attentively until it is accomplished as expected.

     73. The Royal Government recognizes that Cambodia still has a long way to go and has numerous obstacles to overcome to achieve long-term progress and prosperity like that of more developed nations in the region. In this regard, reducing poverty remains the primary objective of the Royal Government in the 3 rd legislature of the National Assembly. Of course, the Royal Government recognizes that not every poverty problem can be solved completely overnight or in one month or one year. However, with clear programs and sincere efforts of everyone, and without corruption, together we certainly will make many positive changes to improve the living standards of the people within the next five years. Therefore, the Royal Government appeals to all leaders and civil servants in all ministries and institutions -- legislative, executive, and judicial -- all armed forces, local authorities at all levels, every citizen, and all international partners of Cambodia and NGOs to provide all kinds of support, to use their rights effectively, and to participate actively with the Royal Government in making this historic political platform a success.[Back to main]