T he Royal Government's planning document for the development of Cambodia got a
"thumbs up" from participants at the Tokyo aid conference.
The 79-page
document, titled the National Programme to Rehabilitate and Develop Cambodia,
outlining steps for the country's reconstruction, was praised for setting the
tone of the conference.
Minister of Information, Ieng Mouly, told The
Post:: "The document indicated the political will, policies and priorities of
the government."
He added that the document, produced by Cambodia's
National Committee for the Rehabilitation and Development of Cambodia (NCRDC),
was presented to all participants at the meeting.
Keat Chhon, senior
minister in charge of Rehabilitation and Development, spent two months drawing
up the document with the help of 11 committees.
"Initiatives envisaged by
the National Programme are the result of extensive consultations involving 110
ministers, high officials of the Royal Government, and national institutions,
with the participation of Cambodians from all over the world, and international
technical assistance," said Chhon.
Carol Lancaster, US Agency for
International Development, said: "I am impressed with the analysis contained in
the program."
The Honorable Gordon Bilney of Australia called it "an
excellent and ambitious program".
Onesta Carpene, director of Australian
Catholic Relief said, "The document impressed everyone with its detail, its
comprehensiveness and the professionalism of its presentation."
Norbert
Klein, of Lutheran World Services said, "It is not an exaggeration to say it
helped set the tone for a very successful conference.
"It was made
available to all the participants beforehand, and it was clear from their
statements, they were responding to the report itself.
"It is highly
commendable that the government was able to produce in this short time this kind
of document. It was very impressive," Klein said."
Carpene and Klein were
two of four representatives from international and Cambodian NGO's at the
conference.
Issues focused on at the conference included macro-economics,
public finances, public investment schemes and world integration of the
Cambodian economy .
