H.E. Mr. Majed Al Mesmar, Chairman of the Conference,
H.E. Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General,
The elected members of the ITU,
Mr Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary-General,
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen

First, I would like to express our sincere congratulations to H.E. Houlin Zhao and Mr. Malcolm Johnson on your re-election. We are confident that ITU will be in good hands. And thank you to Mr. Brahima Sanou and Mr. Francois Rancy for all of your contributions to ITU and Cambodia. 

On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, let me greet the participants of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference and to express our sincere gratitude to the Government of the United Arab Emirates for hosting this Conference with warm reception in the beautiful City of Dubai. 

Also, allow me to express our gratitude to the Secretary General, H.E Houlin Zhao and the ITU elected official for successfully organizing this event, and for the hard work they have done in the past four years, spearheading and implementing the Union resolutions towards Connect 2020 goals. We understand that according to the finding by the ITU, that every 10% increase in broadband penetration, will result in 0.9%-1.5% per capita GDP growth. Cambodia has one of the highest mobile phone penetration and most affordable price in the world with 4G capability, and is looking at 5G for the next phase of development. 

Cambodia has come a long way to where we are today. Ever since our civil war ended in January 1979, Cambodia didn’t achieve real peace and stability until 1998, which in the last 20 years the country has been growing at an average 7% of GDP annually; and it is projected to continue growing at 7% in the for seeable future. This make Cambodia one of the fastest growing economy in Asia. 

In the recent general election in Cambodia, the result has shown that the country is more united than ever in its past 500 years of history. And the government is focusing on and speeding up the development of the country with a strong focus on the quality of growth in all sectors. We believe that technology will play a very critical role that will cut across all sectors from e-government, to e-commerce, to e-people. Ultimately, all these new technologies from the Industry 4.0, will help empowered its citizens to be more productive, more sustainable, and better quality of life (and better quality of life doesn’t necessary mean MORE). We believe that these are 3 very important indicators that should be used to measure the success of this era. 

In recent years, every countries are very excited about the possibility of what digital economy and the 4th Industrial Revolution can bring. The endless possibility of Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Internet of Things, Big Data, crypto currency etc... On the other hand, it is not yet so clear whether all these technologies will be our salvation or our doom? But one thing is clear is that these changes are coming, whether we like it or not. And these new technologies are more and more powerful than ever, which demand that the people or organizations who control these tools to be more responsible and accountable for their uses and impact. Thus it will make organizations like ITU to play even more important role now and in the future; and it will demand more engagement from its member states to help ensure a better future for all. 

As resources on our planet are becoming more constraint and climate change is become more apparent. Cyber space is taking more of our time from the real world, and cybersecurity and privacy is become ever important. It’s clear that these problems will impact everyone on the planet and will require that all states and governments collaborate to help prepare and solves these global challenges together. 

Cambodia is still growing and has a long way to go; and we want to catch up, and we hope that technologies will help Cambodia speed up our development and catch up with the rest of the world. And we are committed to develop the country in the right way; and become a constructive force as a member of ITU and the global communities. 

And finally, I would like to thank the leadership of ITU, who has provided tremendous supports with our requests from policy advises to technical assistants. Cambodia is committed to be more engaged, and to achieve The Connect 2020 Goals and Sustainable Development Goals.