CAMBODIA

General Statement

by H.E. Mr. CHAM Prasidh,

Minister of Commerce and Head of the Delegation of Cambodia

May 17, 2001

Mr. Chairman,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to UNCTAD and the European Commission for co-hosting this 3rd UN Conference on the LDCs, which is crucial for the determination of the fates of the 49 LDCs and the launch of a new round of multilateral negotiations.

I am not going to feed you with statistics. There are already plenty of documents to read about. I would like to talk about what really matters to us in LDCs. Many delegations have expressed successively one after the other their hopes and their apprehensions for the future. When we look to what LDCs' terms of trade were 30 years ago and what they are now, there is very little hope for a brighter future. The deterioration of their terms of trade was accompanied by the aggravation of poverty and the erosion of their competitive edge. The gap between the poor and the rich has not been reduced at all.

The word LDC stands for Least-Developed Countries but I would rather say Left Dying Countries. Why dying? It is because nowadays LDCs are struggling to survive. None of them is better off. There is only limited time left for them to strengthen themselves before it is too late. When is it going to be too late for them? I give you one example taken from the very case of Cambodia, and it could be the case for most of the LDCs, whether they are WTO members or not. I refer to the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) and the time when quantitative restrictions or quotas imposed on textile and apparel imports would be phased out by the end of 2004. What will be the situation of those LDCs at the beginning of 2005? Better? I doubt it. The situation is that there will be not much difference between goods imported from a LDC and goods imported from another country with a well equipped and better established industry. Every country is going to get access to developed countries' market through a quota-free system, duty free or MFN rate duty. There will be not much difference between being a LDC or not being a LDC. What would remain of our competitive edge? Cheaper products? Better products? Disruption of production through strikes, political insecurity, terrorism is occurring more frequently in LDCs than in developed countries. Therefore, LDCs have always been considered by developed countries' buyers as high-risk countries. As such, buying and selling contracts are dealt with tough terms and conditions at the prejudice of the poor countries. I have seen how a Vendor's code has been written and imposed on the LDC seller. I tell you frankly: it is like the LDC seller is kneeling down in front of the Developed Country's buyer and imploring this latter to put a carcan on his neck. But he had no choice. It is like "Take it or leave it". It is like "You don't want to sign? OK,No Problem. Then I go to find out another LDC to sign". And there will be always another LDC willing to accept those harsh terms and conditions. Because everyone is so keen to secure a contract in order to survive. In the long run, LDCs are competing among themselves by lowering their demands and offerings incentives till they reached the bottom. All the LDCs are going to bleed to death.

Is it worthwhile to continue to witness such a situation? Are we witnessing the LDCs' slow death? One small country in the LDCs sinking in the sea would not make much waves, isn't it? Are we doomed? I believe not at this stage. This Conference so justly characterized by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as "the last chance for a better life… for more than 600 million people… shall not fail. For all too many of those people, life is a continuous struggle against hunger, malnutrition, polluted drinking water, infectious disease, ignorance, oppression and violent conflict.

They have not chosen to live like that, and it is in no one’s interest that they should continue to do so."

I believe there are a lot of development partners who do not want to see this kind of situation, too. I urge them to observe the following approach: "prosper thy neighbor instead of wishing to live not at ease near thy poor neighbor".

I am urging our development partners to undertake emergency relief actions regarding:

- more ODA for LDCs

- more FDI towards LDCs

- debt relief to the maximum extent

- secured market through bound, duty-free and quota-free access of LDCs' products within a specified time-frame

- full implementation of special and differential treatment in favor of LDCs, as contained in the WTO Agreements

- fast track accession of LDCs into the WTO according to certain benchmarks

- secure sourcing from LDCs through self-imposed LDC content by big importing companies or launch from now on a campaign to develop a new trend or a new fashion in developed countries for their consumers to use more and more products from LDCs ("Buy LDC Campaign to support the poorest in the world").

LDCs need to secure a collective bargaining power. And this Third UN Conference is one of the last fora for us to make known to the world that we want a change, and we cannot wait 5 years more to be engulfed in a worser situation.

I would like to join other colleagues from the LDCs in thanking countries that have kept with their words and pledges by having fulfilled or exceeded the internationally agreed targets of ODA for LDCs and also those countries that have improved market access conditions for LDCs's exports, including the Everything But Arms initiative of the European Union. The LDCs are very comforted by the positive approach adopted by the European Union and are hoping that other countries would follow suit.

Cambodia appreciates very much efforts made to increase the coordination of activities to support LDCs but Cambodia strongly opposes the idea of removing UNCTAD of both its capacity to address LDCs issues and the UNCTAD LDC Trust Fund as well as the idea of transferring the UNCTAD Office of the Special Coordinator for LDCs from Geneva to New York. UNCTAD has been very deeply involved in supporting LDCs in the field of trade, investment and finance. And this involvement has always been extended in a more neutral approach than other institutions. It is also more practical to have such an Office in Geneva, right in the neighborhood of other important economic institutions like the WTO, ITC, WIPO, ILO… Dr. Rubens Ricupero and UNCTAD are very caring of LDCs. It is the time we need them more than ever and it is not the time to reduce their roles.

In conclusion, I want to urge all LDCs to forge a consensus on how we shall move towards a better future right from now on. The deliverables proposed at this Conference should be adopted and ought to be delivered.

Thank you.