Cambodian PM highlights NGOs' contribution to country's development

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday highlighted the contribution of the civil societies and non governmental organizations that have participated in restoration and the development of the country with the government.

"We have to develop the country together including each individual and the NGOs have to continue to process their work for participation in the country's construction as partnership with the government," he told hundreds of members of non-governmental organizations at the 30th anniversary of NGOs partnership with the people and Cambodian government.

"We have to focus on the health, education, environment, good governance for rule of law and other fields to serve the benefit of the people and the country," he added.

In 1979, there were about five non-governmental organizations in the country and most of them on health services. But now there are over 3,000 NGOs to help the society and people, he noted. Cambodia is heaven for NGOs, he said.

At the same time, he said that NGOs should not worry about the upcoming draft law of NGOs management. The government wants to know the sources of capital for the NGOs process. That law will help to be transparent for NGOs' work in development of the country, and we do not want to see the overlapping investment projects as well as the budget in each year we spent for country' s development, he added.

Meanwhile, Hun Sen pointed out that some NGOs are getting the fund from other countries for their work against the ruling government and others are serving political party's benefit. "Good NGOs won't worry about that law," he stressed.

The government does not put limitation on freedom but the government wants the NGOs to work effectively, and the government opened freely for NGOs to register smoothly at Council of Ministers or Interior Ministry or international organizations registering with the Foreign Ministry for operating their work in the country, he said. "However, the NGOs is still the partnership for government in development of the country," he said.

The single most important contribution of NGOs to Cambodia is in building social capital, said Eva Mysliwiec, executive director of Youth Star Cambodia and representative of the organization committee. NGOs has continued to improve the basic services for people and Cambodian society and economy, rehabilitation of infrastructure and other fields that counted endless, she said.

Editor: Lin Zhi