UN General Assembly
2019

I would now like to briefly share with the Assembly the major developments in my country. We have reason to be pleased but also to be seriously concerned. Cambodia’s commitment to a liberalized economy and multilateralism has led to unprecedented growth in personal wealth and living standards over the past two decades. With an average annual growth rate of more than 7 per cent for more than 20 years, Cambodia is ranked by the World Bank as the sixth fastest-growing country in the world. We achieved most of the Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule. Our ranking on the human development index has risen considerably over the past several decades, putting us in the medium human development category and positioning us as the eighth most successful country in the world in this area for the same period. Between 1990 and 2017, life expectancy at birth increased by almost 16 years, from 53.6 to 69.3 years. Cambodia has seen sharp drops in infant and maternal mortality and deaths from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Access to primary education is now almost universal and primary school enrolment rates are close to 100 per cent for both boys and girls. We are translating our commitments — which can be summed up as being focused on leaving no one behind — into policies and actions. The adoption of a national strategic framework for social protection for the period from 2016 to 2025 was a turning point that emphasized how important my Government considers social protection.