Day: September 9, 2021

The 7th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit kicked off this morning via videoconference under the theme “GMS: Renewed Strength to Face the Challenges of the New Decade”.
In his opening remarks, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Chair of the 7th GMS Summit, extended warm welcome to all the participants, adding that as the Chair for the Summit, Cambodia has been honoured to facilitate the review and preparation of the New Strategic Framework that has guided the future directions of GMS Cooperation Programme towards achieving a shared prosperity based on the principles of international laws, peace and solidarity.
This year’s theme reflects our firm commitment to addressing new challenges, thus ensuring centrality of GMS in regional connectivity and propelling GMS countries towards sustainable and inclusive development, he stressed.
The summit is an opportunity to examine how global trends are affecting the subregion, the progress that has been made in cooperation and integration, and the best strategy for moving forward in the years ahead.
Organised every three years, the GMS Summit was first held on Nov. 3, 2002 in Phnom Penh, while the 6th Summit took place in Hanoi on Mar. 31, 2018. This is the second time that Cambodia hosts the summit.
The GMS is comprised of six nations that share the Mekong River, including Cambodia, China (specifically Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Chair of the 7th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit urged for the deepening of solidarity so as to ensure robust socioeconomic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis.
“It is crucial that we accelerate and deepen our solidarity under the spirit of multilateralism in order to ensure robust socioeconomic recovery after the crisis,” the Premier said while presiding over the opening ceremony of the 7th GMS Summit held this morning via videoconference.
On the occasion, Samdech Techo Hun Sen highlighted five important points:
“First, I am pleased to see positive development of the GMS cooperation most notably the achievements we have made in all areas that contribute to strengthening regional connectivity, promoting competitiveness, and building communities through full implementation of the Greater Mekong Subregion Strategic Framework 2022, the Hanoi Action Plan, and the Regional Investment Framework since our 6th Summit in 2018. Moving forward, our cooperation is strategically necessary as we continue working closely together to transform challenges into opportunities for the development of our region.
In this regard, I believe that the adoption the Greater Mekong Subregion Strategic Framework 2030 and our new Mission Statement for the GMS-Focusing on the fundamental strengths of communities, connectivity, and competitiveness, while embracing the core principles of environmental sustainability and resilience with integration and inclusiveness, to build the GMS Community towards a shared future will be the strong pillars for the Greater Mekong Subregion to provide adequate responses to current challenges especially to develop economic and social resilience amidst the rapidly changing regional and global context.
Second, at the regional level, we have witnessed the utmost efforts by the Mekong countries in the fight against Covid-19 through the implementation of appropriate prevention and containment measures as well as mitigation responses that support our economic activities and the livelihood of our peoples. As for Cambodia, the Royal Government has made her best efforts in controlling the Covid-19 crisis with the rollout of the nationwide vaccination campaign and enforcement of public health and administrative measures that are aimed at reducing community transmission. Nevertheless, this new wave of Covid-19 pandemic has had severe impacts on Cambodia’s economy, most notably in the areas of textiles, tourism, and other service sectors, which brings about uncertainty in her recovery for 2021. In this context, I believe that our joint efforts are essential for our post-crisis recovery and growth especially with the adoption of the GMS Covid-19 Response and Recovery Plan 2021 2023 which will enable us to launch timely responses that will pave the way for smooth operations of supply chains, trade, investment, tourism and public health in our region.
Third, as we currently combat the spread of Covid-19, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the People’s Republic of China for her role in providing vaccines to fight against the Covid-19 outbreaks for countries in the region. I would also like to express my profound thank again to the People’s Republic of China for her donation of Covid-19 vaccines to the Cambodian people. Likewise, I would like to express our gratitude to the international community through the World Health Organisation’s COVAX programme, as well as to other bilateral partners for sharing and providing vaccines to Cambodia. These reflect our friendship and solidarity in time of crisis, as I used to say ‘Love each other in times of need, know good friends in times of trouble’. It is this friendship and solidarity that contribute to every effort made by the Royal Government to return Cambodia to normalcy and recover her economy after the COVID-19 crisis.
Fourth, indeed in this hard time, our path forward lies not only in our strategic directions and action plans to rehabilitate our shared prosperity but also in our efforts to mobilise funding especially tapping synergies and complementing with other financing programmes in the Mekong region, as we aim to deliver tangible outcomes for our development projects. In the meantime, public-private partnership remains a key indispensable financing mechanism that helps to resolve our financing challenges.
Fifth, with regard to regional connectivity-an area that is at the heart of our cooperation – I would like to highlight the importance of digital connectivity as it serves to compensate the loss of productivity caused by the Covid-19 crisis and also to ensure effective and sustainable socio-economic development. Therefore, in the midst of our economic recovery, Cambodia urges that GMS cooperation focuses on the development of digital infrastructure, integration of the digital economy, and upskilling of our workforce in the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution so as to maintain high competitiveness for our economies. In the meantime, development of smart cities, clean energy and logistics systems should be further strengthened.”

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The GMS leaders have shared their commitment to overcome all challenges in this decade, including the COVID-19 pandemic, said Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, in his closing remarks of the 7th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit on Sept. 9.
“In our Seventh Summit today, we endorsed and adopted a new Strategic Framework, the third for the GMS Programme. Again, we should be confident that this will guide us in coping with and overcoming a new set of complex and urgent challenges in this decade,” said Samdech Techo Hun Sen, also Chair of the 7th GMS Summit.
“We are certainly starting this new decade under a difficult crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, with its serious and prolonged impacts on public health and the economy. Although there are now glimmers of hope, with the advent of the vaccines, the general expectation is that massive efforts are still needed to significantly control the disease and to bring back sustained growth to our economies,” he underlined.
Moreover, Samdech Techo Hun Sen continued, as GMS-2030 has rightly underscored, there are other longer term and broader trends that are now approaching critical stages and threatening the entire world. The region is now being warned about the “climate emergency”, and we are already feeling the very real effects of worsening natural disasters. The region is also seeing the continuing threats to global economic growth and emergence of unilaterally restrictive and protective trade policies.
“However, we in the GMS have shown time and again our resilience and our ability to take practical and results-focused actions to address common concerns. Now, more than ever, we must realise the crucial importance of cooperation and collaborative actions. The threats and challenges that we face have impacts that straddle and spill over borders and, therefore, need joint actions. I believe that our joint efforts have a significant value over and above the sum of our individual national efforts in addressing common problems,” the Cambodian Premier said.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen also urged all GMS members to commit to further strengthen the cooperation and to resolutely pursue the strategies and priority actions charted in the two documents endorsed today.
“I firmly believe these strategies are well developed based on thorough assessment in regional and global contexts and adhered to basic knowledge,” he stressed. “However, as we all know, success would depend on effective implementation. We must, therefore, put effort into monitoring progress, constantly assessing the rapidly changing landscape in which we operate and remain flexible in addressing emerging issues.”

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

Phnom Penh municipal administration has decided to extend its administrative measures for two more weeks, from Sept. 10 to 23 in order to combat and prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially the Delta variant.
According to the new directive issued this morning, high-risk occupational and business activities such as public and private educational institutions that have not yet been allowed for reopening; KTVs, nightclubs, beer gardens and casinos; resorts, museums, playgrounds, and amusement parks; massage therapy, sauna and steam businesses; alcoholic beverage outlets; cinemas, theatres, sports clubs, and fitness centres have to temporarily shut down for 14 more days.
Moreover, it added, private gatherings of over 15 people will also be banned for two more weeks, but with some exceptions.
Occupational and business activities and gatherings that are not restricted must carry out the health safety rules strictly, the directive underlined.
As of this morning, Cambodia’s COVID-19 tally rose to 97,524, of which 16,458 have been imported and 3,323 have been detected with Delta variant. The pandemic has so far claimed 2,007 lives, but 92,495 have recovered.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press