1. presentational performances of TSUGARU-SHAMISEN, a traditional Japanese musical instrument,

2. a lecture series by Japanese professors on subjects of interest to Cambodian people, such as Japan's experience of reconstruction and development and Japanese cooperation for the restoration of the Angkor monuments, etc,

3. a Japanese film festival,

4. a presentation of Japanese local festival performances, (the participation of Cambodian people would be very welcome).

Details will be announced in due course.

THE COMMUNE ELECTIONS

Although my comments are somewhat late, the commune elections are too important a subject just to overlook. As a matter of fact, on February 2nd I hastened home from Tokyo where I had attended an Ambassadors' meeting to observe Cambodia's historical commune elections the next day. I was very much interested to see that this very important political exercise for Cambodia be carried out smoothly, particularly because I had visited several provinces and observed the election preparations and my Government assisted with the various election-related activities. The cases of murder and reported violence in the pre-election period caused for concern to many people. But after observing 25 polling stations, I was very impressed by the conscientious and careful attitude of the election officials in handling the voting and counting procedures. I interviewed quite a few village people who came to vote and felt very happy to see they were quite eager to cast their ballots which they believed would enable them to consider their representatives and act for the development of their own communes. All my Japanese observation team-mates were impressed, too. We are also satisfied by the fact that there were no serious disturbances or major incidents after the elections.

I would like to congratulate the Government and the people of Cambodia for successfully carrying out this exercise of grass-roots democracy. My observation team issued a press statement in this regard (see our press release dated February 5th on our website). Let me add henceforth that the capacity-building of the commune officials and the members of commune councils as well as establishing a legal and other framework for the new system is vitally important. I sincerely wish all Cambodians good luck. The Japanese Government stands ready to continue to support this process.

KHMER ROUGE TRIAL ISSUES

On February 9th, I was very surprised and greatly disappointed by the abrupt announcement by the United Nations to close talks with the Royal Government of Cambodia over the establishment of the extraordinary chambers for the Khmer Rouge trials. It is my observation that the Cambodian Government has been working hard for the establishment and early implementation of the tribunals, despite many difficulties. The negotiations were going on and I consider it regrettable that the UN side made this important decision unilaterally, when the RGC was waiting for reactions from the UN to its comments sent earlier to the world organization.

The Japanese Government respects the will of the Cambodian people and I believe that the Cambodian people intend to realize justice for the past atrocities. We welcome the Cambodian position that the door is still open for further negotiations. Together with the interested countries and in close consultation with the Cambodian Government, we would like to try to help break the present stalemate so that the two parties resume talks.

A " BRAVO " FOR CAMBODIAN EFFORTS TO CONTROL SMUGGLING

I read an article in Le Cambodge Soir dated March 26 reporting that the Government undertook a serious operation the other day to control car smuggling. I also learned sometime earlier that the Government had set up an inter-Ministerial committee with the active participation of the police and military forces to combat smuggling more effectively. Well, it is generally considered that smuggling is rampant in this country. This is an important issue in which I have been interested and which I have discussed with the Cambodian government leaders a number of times in the past.

Needless to say, this problem is important, in that it involves not only elements of impunity which brings about serious consequences politically, but also it causes negative economic effects such as lower Government revenues (I understand the revenues from customs duties constitute about 38% of the State's revenues) and a disincentive for foreign direct investment. In fact, the very few Japanese private companies which have made investments in Phnom Penh suffer from difficulties because smuggled products sell much cheaper than their legal products. Therefore, those companies which pay taxes and contribute to the industrialization of the country incur losses. This discourages future investment which Cambodia needs badly.

I appreciate the efforts of the Government for taking stronger counter-smuggling measures. I also welcome the increased efforts of the Government to address the problems of the overloading of trucks, illegal logging, etc, which pertain to the question of "good governance". I think these are important steps to realize for a country governed by the rule of law.

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