I am honoured to acknowledge on behalf of the Government of Japan the commitments and achievements that the Royal Government of Cambodia has made in its effort to serve for the development of Cambodia, and appreciate the opportunity at this CG meeting to express our willingness to stand with the Royal Government to further assist its reform efforts in cooperation with other developing partners.

As His Excellency Senior Minister Keat Chhon reiterated in his opening remark yesterday, the Royal Government of Cambodia has made steady progresses since the last CG meeting in sustaining the macroeconomic stability and robust economic growth, as well as in a wide range of policy and institutional reforms in such areas as public financial management, private sector development, decentralization, and legal and judicial reform. Whilst there are greater challenges ahead in meeting the development needs of this country we recognize that the Royal Government through the implementation of the Rectangular Strategy made gradual advances, and is certainly moving toward achieving Cambodia Millennium Development Goals.

On behalf of the Japanese government, I would also like to welcome that the long-awaited National Strategic Development Plan was finally adopted and that the Royal Government as well as development partners now have a solid guidance to direct our efforts and assistance according to the development priorities identified through consultations among various stakeholders. In our efforts to link as much of our assistance to those priorities as possible, Japan also plans to update our Country Assistance Strategy for Cambodia this year, and will seek active dialogues with the Cambodian government as well as with other development partners to fit our strategy into the broad development roadmap depicted in the NSDP. As it clearly states, the NSDP is a live, flexible document capable of being adjusted and updated regularly, and we are thrilled to work together with the Royal Government and other development partners to further improve and elaborate the content of the NSDP as it meets the changing needs of this country.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Since Cambodia made a new start as a post-war nation in 1992, Japan has continuously supported Cambodia throughout its transition period from peace settlement, reconstruction, to development. While the economic and financial situation of our country remains as severe as last year, recognizing the importance of the development of Cambodia for the Asian regional stability and for rectifying the regional economic gap among ASEAN countries, Japan stands with the Royal Government of Cambodia in a determination to strengthen its support in building resilience in the people of Cambodia.

At the last CG meeting held in December 2004, we indicated that our assistance to Cambodia for fiscal year 2004 (from April 2004 to March 2005) would be more than 13.5 billion Japanese yen (about 123 million US dollars), and the amount actually disbursed was 16.7 billion JY (about 160 million USD), which includes the contribution of 2.4 billion JY (about 22 million USD) to the United Nations for Khmer Rouge Tribunal This means that we disbursed about 1 billion yen more than we had initially indicated, even excluding the contribution for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal

For this Japanese fiscal year from April 2005 to March 2006, Japan has contributed about 123 billion Japanese yen or equivalent of 115 million US dollars for the development of Cambodia, including around 318 million yen loan, 7 billion grant aid, 4 billion technical cooperation, and 1 billion contribution through international organizations. As for the yen loan project pledged by our Prime Minister Koizumi at the recent Japan-Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Japan and Cambodia signed on March 1^st the Exchange of Notes for its implementation. We are certain that this yen loan project will serve to improve investment climate necessary to attract foreign investors in Cambodia.

Japan’s Contribution to Cambodia (April 2005 - March 2006)