Written by Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post
A COALITION of civil society groups launched a new resource revenue watchdog Friday, citing the need for more transparency in Cambodia's natural resources sector.
Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT) - founded by the Centre for Social Development, Development and Partnership in Action, the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the Economic Institute of Cambodia and the Youth Resource Development Program - aims to ensure that revenues from mining and potential offshore oil deposits are handled accountably.
"[T]he revenues from extractive industries have enormous potential to lift Cambodians out of poverty," Lim Solinn, the regional programme coordinator for Oxfam America's East Asia office, said at the launch.
"Conversely, if not properly managed, these same dollars could have dramatically adverse affects - environmental, social and economic."
Resource bounty
The discovery of oil and gas reserves by US oil giant Chevron off the country's south coast in 2004 has prompted speculation about the potential benefit of any future oil revenues, with some civil society groups expressing concerns that Cambodians will derive little benefit from the money.
In February, international corruption watchdog Global Witness released a report claiming high-level corruption and nepotism in the country's extractive resources sectors, springing from the granting of "highly dubious" economic concessions by the government.
Lim said that Cambodia was well-placed to avoid the "resource curse" - the economic distortions caused by a heavy reliance on extractive resources - provided it makes an effort to establish the proper procedures and regulatory infrastructure, including input from the non-government sector.
"This can only be done with a strong and meaningful engagement between government, companies and civil society," she said.
Financial reforms
Hang Chuon Naron, vice chairman of the Supreme National Economic Council, said at Friday's launch that the government was dedicated to ensuring extractive resources would be a blessing rather than a curse, claiming increased revenues could be used to sustain "robust economic growth" and "rapid poverty reduction".
He said the government's Public Financial Management Reform Programme, initiated in 2004, would ensure a fully transparent system is in place by 2015, adding that the government would share information about oil revenues with NGOs and development partners.
But Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay regarded the government's promises with suspicion, saying its track record on natural resource revenue management was not good.
"We don't trust the government.... There's no record in the past that the government has been accountable," he said. "A lot of resources have been disappearing, starting with forests, gems and gold mines."
But he reiterated the CRRT's calls for more information on oil revenues, saying the SRP has requested that details of oil exploration agreements be made public.
Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT) - founded by the Centre for Social Development, Development and Partnership in Action, the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the Economic Institute of Cambodia and the Youth Resource Development Program - aims to ensure that revenues from mining and potential offshore oil deposits are handled accountably.
"[T]he revenues from extractive industries have enormous potential to lift Cambodians out of poverty," Lim Solinn, the regional programme coordinator for Oxfam America's East Asia office, said at the launch.
"Conversely, if not properly managed, these same dollars could have dramatically adverse affects - environmental, social and economic."
Resource bounty
The discovery of oil and gas reserves by US oil giant Chevron off the country's south coast in 2004 has prompted speculation about the potential benefit of any future oil revenues, with some civil society groups expressing concerns that Cambodians will derive little benefit from the money.
In February, international corruption watchdog Global Witness released a report claiming high-level corruption and nepotism in the country's extractive resources sectors, springing from the granting of "highly dubious" economic concessions by the government.
Lim said that Cambodia was well-placed to avoid the "resource curse" - the economic distortions caused by a heavy reliance on extractive resources - provided it makes an effort to establish the proper procedures and regulatory infrastructure, including input from the non-government sector.
"This can only be done with a strong and meaningful engagement between government, companies and civil society," she said.
Financial reforms
Hang Chuon Naron, vice chairman of the Supreme National Economic Council, said at Friday's launch that the government was dedicated to ensuring extractive resources would be a blessing rather than a curse, claiming increased revenues could be used to sustain "robust economic growth" and "rapid poverty reduction".
He said the government's Public Financial Management Reform Programme, initiated in 2004, would ensure a fully transparent system is in place by 2015, adding that the government would share information about oil revenues with NGOs and development partners.
But Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay regarded the government's promises with suspicion, saying its track record on natural resource revenue management was not good.
"We don't trust the government.... There's no record in the past that the government has been accountable," he said. "A lot of resources have been disappearing, starting with forests, gems and gold mines."
But he reiterated the CRRT's calls for more information on oil revenues, saying the SRP has requested that details of oil exploration agreements be made public.
3 comments:
looks like cambodia needs a strong, independent auditor group to keep track of revenue, etc for the gov't. perhaps this can lessen the act of corruption to some degree. and even this auditor group needs to see supervised as well as they too can become corrupted as well. remember nobody is immuned to corruption act if given a chance. that's why there are laws to govern everybody and everything in the world, not just in cambodia. otherwise, the entire world does not have the need for law and order, etc... please be fair and unbias when talking about cambodia. we are not that bad; of course, we can be better, and we are striving to do just that, getting better all the time. please be patient. let's not try to fix everything overnight as all changes required time, patience, understanding, education, etc, etc... god bless cambodia.
it's a good sign and a good start that someone is care enough to call for reform, accountability, transparency, etc... even corruption can't go on forever, you know! fool me once, fine, fool me twice, you're in deep you know what! god bless cambodia.
We have to be more cautious about these resources because can help Cambodia to reduce poverty and promote economic growth which will benefit current generation and future generation if well managed.
But in case we are not manage it well, we can an example of our neighboring country Burma.
If you interest to more about Cambodians for resource revenue transparency please visit our website: www.crrt-cambodia.org
This website not 100% ready, we still work on it.
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