In the afternoon of on 19 September 2019, Dr. Kin Phea, Director General of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia participated and delivered an opening remark in the Workshop on “Cambodia’s Environmental Challenges and the SDGs” which was o-organized by Korea Environment Institute (KEI), Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC), National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) at Phnom Penh Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
On behalf of His Excellency Academician Sok Touch, President of the Royal Academy of Cambodia and myself, Dr. Kin Phea expressed his most sincere thanks to KEI for the financial and technical support for organizing this important and timely workshop. He also highly recognized the productive cooperation from NCSD under the leadership of His Excellency Dr. Tin Ponlok, Secretary General of NCSD to make the event happen. At the same time, Dr. Kin Phea also thanked all distinguished presenters, discussants and participants from KEI, UNDP, KOICA, GGGI, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, MOE, RAC and NCSD, for their contribution and participation which made this workshop achieve its objectives & expected outcomes.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Kin Phea said that “among our greatest concerns is climate change. Temperature and other climatic factors are expected to change dramatically, leading to changes in rainfall patterns and day and night temperatures”. “With a focus on economic prosperity, we must pay special attention to climate change and the decreasing of natural resources quality. The business development and rapid economic growth will not be sustainable if they seriously impact the environment”, he continued.
Dr. Kin Phea also highlighted that as the top national think tank in Cambodia under the Council of Ministers, RAC has been granted the rights to manage a national park named “Techo Sen Russey Treb Park of RAC” with the size of 114.35 square kilometers in order to conserve historical and cultural heritages including archaeological, historical and anthropological values, and natural resources including land, forest and wildlife at the park by establishing a sustainable equilibrium between economic, social and environmental demands consistent with the national and global development policies in poverty reduction, sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The park is serving as training and researching ground for national and international students and researchers in the field of agriculture and environmental protection and conservation.
Dr. Kin Phea reaffirmed that RAC makes itself ready and is eager to cooperate with KEI and other institutions with the same objectives in an effort to contribute to protect and improve environment and natural resources in Cambodia and in the region. RAC is looking forward to more collaborative projects and activities with KEI as well as with other organizations and development partners in order to tackle our common environmental issues and to keep balance between the three dimensions – economic, environmental and social – of sustainable development in our region and the world.
It’s worthy noting that there are 21 national and international experts attending this workshop.
