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(From the prepared text) – All other relevant actors, especially the private sector, are invited to provide comments and input at any time, as necessary, to the working group, as well as the Economic and Financial Policy Committee (EFPC) and/or the Head of Government, in the spirit of improving the implementation and ensuring the success of this special investment promotion program.
(1) Competent institutions to ensure consistency and implement decision from top to bottom quickly
This (Economic and Financial Policy Committee – EFPC) mechanism is placed from the national level to the sub-national level […] It consists of many skills. The experience from the initial implementation in Sihanoukville province was that there was a problem of inconsistency. We created this committee and delegated it with decision-making rights (in order to) bring services closer to the grassroots, so that concerned offices do not have to go up to Phnom Penh through ministries and institutions. We have increased the authority of this committee to make decisions, but the decisions must be implemented. In the past, in some places, when the central level decided on some principles, for example regarding taxes, the provincial tax department did not implement them, claiming that it did not receive the instructions from its superiors […]
(The process is) if something is decided, it must be implemented from top to bottom. Please ensure that each institution that has the authority to do this work is consistent and fast in its implementation […] (In practice) it is not just related to taxes, but to all institutions […] Even if we put the keys to modern solutions in place, from the middle level down, should the implementers be still slow, working in the same speed, the same procedures, that would not change at all […] We are not concentrating power in the central mechanism to do everything on behalf of the provincial mechanism. We have already embarked on decentralization […]
(2) All EFPC decisions are equivalent to national decisions
All decisions of the (economic and financial policy) committee, within its jurisdiction, especially mechanisms under the provinces, in each of the four provinces, must be respected and implemented. There should not be a case where the committee has made a decision (but) the implementation must first pass through the provincial governor […] The EFPC must work closely with the provincial mechanism. All decisions are delegated to this committee. That is equivalent to national decisions. Implementation must be consistent and coherent. This means that it does not do everything on the provincial behalf. It only makes decision. When it comes to organizing the implementation process, it is the provincial mechanism itself that will be the implementers. This central mechanism will monitor and supervise implementation, with the authority and right to deal with it later […]
(3) The Committee is not a mechanism instead of provincial levels but facilitates and encouraging the villagers
Since these provinces are the farthest (from the central authority), we set up this EFPC to do what is necessary to help. However, if the provinces do not walk, no one could do anything to help […] I repeat that EFPC is not a mechanism to replace the provincial authority (in taking the job done) but only to help with advancements, facilitations and improvements in the province. I believe that the four provincial governors have already set their directives and provided guidelines and adjusting procedures in relevant institutions to facilitate faster process. This work requires working together. From the central level, we readjust the procedure to avoid complications […] but we also adjust the lower/implementing level as well. For investment projects with sufficient characteristics, all procedures to the provinces are going through shortcut […] We pick up a pillar to strengthen it […]
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(4) Once decided, relevant ministry/institutions fast handling and delegating to line offices
To meet up the challenges […] once the inter-ministerial (body has decided, firstly), I urge that each of the relevant ministries try to take all the points (in the decisions) to deal quickly. Secondly, the relevant ministries shall recommend and/or delegate the line offices to implement at the provincial level, and inter-provincial levels […] If it is time to run, we have got to run together. We run in groups […] We cannot afford to have one run here and the other run there, or one is running and another is sitting down. Let us go altogether […] all of this needs speed. That we set up this northeastern investment promotion team (NEIPT) is because we want the speed and efficiency, which requires adjustment of the procedure of certain organizations in harmony with our overall principles as well as the capital, provincial institutions, those under the provincial institutions […] whereas the main goal is to ensure investment, tourism and products flow into the four provinces quickly […]
(5) Encouraging investments by foreign, outside and domestic provincial investors
We withdrew from the CLV-DTA because, over the past 25 years, we have been able to organize ourselves to a level where we can be our own boss […] All these exemptions and privileges are not only for foreign investors. We extend the same favors to domestic investors, and not just for investments from outside the province. We encourage investors in the province to do more […] We have prepared some funds as capital, and put in place a policy of support for low-interest loans, focusing on domestic investors and/or SMEs, which is what we want […] Let the four provinces, especially the provinces with natural resources […] do the zoning so that we can pinpoint and reserve areas where there will be industrial development […] tourism, where nature will be kept, and where there will be large-scale agroindustry […] In other words, think about sustainable development […]
(6) Together accelerate the preparation of master plans and maps of land use
We have potentials in agroindustry, agriculture and tourism. Maybe there will be manufacturing soon […] We have to be proactive. Mondulkiri province, for instance, most of it is related to ecotourism. If we don’t think about it, in a short time, the ecotourism condition would be ruined some days. We were thinking of doing ecotourism but suddenly there are factories all over the place […] I am urging the provincial authority, the EFPC, which consist of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, together accelerate the preparation of master plans and maps of land use […] the same is true for Ratanakiri and or Kratie […] If there are areas related to nature, for example, the Irrawaddy dolphins, etc., you may not want to do anything that would harm them. Let us protect them. We have got a vast area of land […] Let us think about everything in a comprehensive way, extracting the benefits, and protecting the potential to be able to promote multi-sector development […]
(7) The four northeastern provinces to prevent insecurity activities, especially cybercrime
The four provinces should pay attention to security and order, and prevent insecurity activities, especially cybercrime […] The four provinces have started to develop with little and nothing since 1999. They have developed so much so far without relying on those activities. We can survive without all that. We must promote real investment in real sectors, not related to illegality, not related to security issues […] If you (think) of relying on this technology scam, I tell you not even think about it […] Let us protect legal investment, proper investment, and do not discriminate where the investment comes from, but respect the law and sovereignty of Cambodia, provide positive benefits to the Cambodian people, increase the potential of the provinces with a positive outlook in a positive way, while increasing income and stability and long-term security with the development of the people of the four provinces […]
(8) Make the four northeastern provinces develop closing gap with other economic poles
From the central level, the Royal Government, relevant ministries and institutions, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Commerce will work together in all aspects, both security and economy, in all sectors, to make the four provinces develop faster, towards closing the gap with the capital Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk Province, Siem Reap Province, which are the three other economic poles. Previously, we used the multilateral CLV-DTA mechanism, plus assistance from Japan in this place. Now we have withdrawn. We increase our own development capacity, our own ownership, through the policy launched today, attracting investment from all directions, both domestic and foreign, and promoting local investment in Mondulkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, and Ratanakiri provinces to create more opportunities, promote the economy to become a province that can take advantage of its geography. Although you four are far away, but not out off reach anymore […]./.
