Inaugural Conference of EIC

Welcome Speech by Mr. Sok Hach
Director of Economic Institute of Cambodia 

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to all to this EIC inaugural conference. Today is an important day. It is a beginning of an opportunity to get together and share knowledge and experiences in addressing economic issues pertinent to Cambodia from now and the days to come.

In recognition to the organizations funding the Institute, USAID, The Asia Foundation, and SME Cambodia, I would like to extend our warm welcome and sincere thanks for giving us this opportunity.

We all know that economics, as a science, is concerned with the allocation of scarce resources, the production and consumption or use of goods and services; thus, it has implications for the livelihood of people and the foundation of any equitable, self-organizing society.  Therefore, economics should be everybody’s business in Cambodia.

However, in Cambodia, with all its eventful past, we do not currently have sufficient, effective and efficient use of resources and demonstrable practices to promote good economic decisions. It is understood and acknowledged that policy makers, developers and consumers play a significant role in effecting economic decisions for Cambodia. For all these groups to effect good economic decisions, Cambodia needs, in addition to the adherence to democratic principles, an independent body to promote critical appraisal of economic evidence, to assess strategic outcomes, government policies, and decisions, and examine their implications for Cambodian society.

This need is exacerbated by two major factors. The first one is globalization, because the science of economics increases in complexity as the world turns to globalization. The second relates to Cambodia’s relatively new system of democracy as well as being a newly admitted member to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Democracy and market economies are exactly what Cambodia should be seeking but, if not taken seriously, could cause more ills to society than prosperity and equity. Thus, the Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC) was conceived to facilitate Cambodia’s future development as a self-organized society that enables resource redistribution to all Cambodian people.

The concept of EIC was seeded as a result of my previous experiences in other countries and in Cambodia.

It is, therefore, significant for EIC to articulate its mission as: “to promote and contribute to a sustainable economic development for Cambodia that will equitably benefit Cambodian society”.

To achieve the EIC mission, we are guided by principles of social justice, transparent and ethical practice and espousing scientific methods to attain facts and truth. These principles enable the EIC to promote democracy in government and hopefully influence and make better Cambodia’s market economies.

How will the EIC do its business?

To achieve our first objective: “To provide a better understanding of the economy through socio-economic research”, EIC will define design and develop, through research, a socio-economic database and modeling. This system will be made available and accessible for sectors in society as a resource to Cambodia’s economic policy development, implementation and outcomes’ monitoring.

To achieve our second objective: “To actively participate in formulating economic policies and in critically examining current economic policies and strategies”, EIC plans to conduct priority-based research on policy making and decisions as well as practice-based research on strategic issues of critical significance to Cambodia’s economic development and prosperity. For example, trade investment, economic governance, and public and private sectors’ development.

To achieve our third objective: “To promote the use of the most up-to-date economic evidence to assist policy and decision makers towards informed decision making and to promote best practice”, EIC will disseminate evidence-based information and research outcomes through publications, seminars, media resources and consultations.

In conclusion, I would like to think that we, in Cambodia, know the economic problems we face. Nevertheless, it is worth emphasizing that knowing the problems we face is not enough, we need actions and this could be a new beginning. To address the problems, we need to be more open in our discourse and to be transparent in our practices. This is a time of opportunity and I ask each and everyone, let us all work together to create powerful minds that can generate an engine of prosperity and create a system for fair distribution of resources and for promoting sustainable strategies that will make Cambodia a self-organized society.

Later this session, you will hear a bit more detail on the conceptualization of the EIC.

EIC is one unique opportunity, let us take a strong hold and make the most of it.

 Thank you