Prime Minister Hun Sen provided four key points in the pursuit of peace, security and the development of mankind at the 100th anniversary of the Universal Peace Federation World Summit in Seoul, South Korea on Monday.

The summit was held under the theme Peace, Security and Human Development.

Hun Sen said peace is the basic foundation of development. But the road to world peace today is full of obstacles and involves multi-faceted frameworks, competitions, self-interest and checks and balances of global power.

The world of today, he said, faces a trade war which poses risks to national economies, leads to a negative impact on global economic growth in the medium term and affects socio-economic development.

Climate change has evolved dramatically over the past few years into a threat to the development and security of mankind

Global warming, ever-increasing seawater levels, losses of biodiversity and natural resources, major natural disasters as well as a series of droughts are issues that many countries have heatedly debated, leading to present and future conflicts between nations.

Hun Sen provided four viewpoints to solve the issues.

“I would like to share some viewpoints which are key in strengthening peace, security and the development of mankind.

“First, continue to promote the plurality system and international order, which depend on the regulations that strengthen and expand collaboration in guaranteeing absolute peace, security, safety and stability as well as peacefully solve regional issues and based on the principles of international law.

“Second, promote a culture of inter-religious dialogue to create awareness of one another, of mutual respect, trust, forgiveness and constant respect for the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

“Interference in internal affairs from outside countries always hinders or devastates the development of the countries.

“Third, strengthen collaboration and continue to promote globalisation. Collaborative measures must maintain the spirit of openness, support multi-party trade systems and speed up connections between society and our economies.

“Advance development agendas of each country and attain sustainable development and inclusiveness.

“Fourth, boost development through a people-centric approach – especially in development work – and strengthen social welfare systems.

“Strengthen the quality of education, improve the quality of life, reduce poverty and the development gap in line with the non-stop development of economic and social structures,” Hun Sen said.

He stressed that the provision of equal opportunities for all citizens is part of maintaining peace and that human resource development is paramount to economic development.

While in South Korea, Hun Sen also met with Cambodian migrant workers living in Seoul on Monday.

“Until now, I can say that as a founder of relations with the Republic of Korea and with the support of the King, I consider that we have had enormous success in establishing diplomatic ties with this country.

“We have had many good experiences with Korea. There has been no major issue in the past 20 years that could create a rift between us,” he said.

He said there are currently 65,500 Cambodian migrant workers in South Korea, which number less than Chinese workers (1.2 million), Vietnamese (220,000), Thais (200,000) and Filipinos (78,000).

He noted that there are some 7,000 illegal Cambodian migrant workers.

He said that between 1996 and 2018, South Korea had provided more than $300 million in grants to the Kingdom.

Last year, he said, Cambodia received $17 million in grants from South Korea, which plans to grant an additional $24 million this year. It said it will provide a further $700 million for the Kingdom’s development.

Ou Chanrith, a former lawmaker for the Supreme Court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, said diplomatic ties between Cambodia and South Korea have improved recently, especially economically.

“It is great that we have tried to strengthen relations with South Korea and Japan which adhere to genuine democracy. If we can create greater and more economic ties, it will help Cambodia in many ways,” he said.