SEMINAR ON WTO ACCESSION

AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS FOR CAMBODIA

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen, 

It is my pleasure to be here today to address this gathering of Cambodia’s WTO negotiation team. On behalf of the Minister of Commerce, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Government of Singapore and to the International Trade Institute of Singapore, especially to Mr. Leon KHOR and his colleagues. Also, I would like to especially thank the Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh for its support for making this seminar possible. 

As you are aware, entering the international trading system is considered as a top priority for the Royal Government of Cambodia since it joined ASEAN in 1999. The integration into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will bring benefits as well as great challenges for Cambodia in all areas. 

In October 1994, Cambodia applied for its accession into the WTO. A Working Party was established in December 1994 to examine our application.  

We convened the First Working Party in May 2001 in Geneva. Numerous documents remained to be prepared for the Second Working Party due in December 2001 or in January 2002. Those comprise of issues such as tariff offer, service offer, and checklists on services, technical barriers to trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures and intellectual property. 

The fact that we still rely very much on custom revenues will lead us to prepare with extreme care our tariff offer to avoid terrible impacts on the national budget. 

A feasibility study needs to be undertaken on sectors in goods and services to identify which need to be liberalized with set priorities to maximize benefits for Cambodia and the Region.  

There shall be focus on agriculture, various services, TBT and SPS agreements.

In joining the WTO, Cambodia will need to reform its legal frameworks to be consistent with the WTO rules. The participation of all socio-economic sectors will be a necessary requirement. 

Another important challenge for Cambodia is the shortage of human resource to prepare for the accession and implementation of WTO agreements. Without knowledgeable people, in general and specific areas, Cambodia will not benefit from opening its trade borders. Vision and disciplined will be needed to achieve results. 

I strongly believe that this Seminar will contribute to broaden the working knowledge of the accession team. It is an opportunity for all participants to exchange their views and experiences in a permanently changing environment thus enhancing the cooperation between Singapore and Cambodia. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I now declare the Seminar officially opened and wish you all a fruitful meeting.