3月26日，在亚洲青年领袖论坛闭幕式上，柬埔寨青年联合会常委、国际关系与对外合作部主任索索肯发表了主旨演讲。

全文如下：

尊敬的各位嘉宾、女士们、先生们：

很荣幸也很高兴能在今天与各位知名领袖齐聚一堂，你们当中很多人为促进亚洲地区的和平、繁荣、机遇以及包容性和可持续发展的事业作出了卓越的贡献。

在这次论坛期间，与会代表的参与程度和思想交流的质量令我印象非常深刻。事实上，如果没有主办方的卓越努力，也绝不可能有这样出色的交流成果。因此，请允许我代表柬埔寨青年联合会主席洪玛尼阁下向中国公共外交协会、中国和平发展基金会、广州市人民政府以及亚洲青年领袖联合会表示衷心的感谢！感谢你们的辛勤付出和热情接待。

各位领导、各位嘉宾：

柬埔寨青年联合会，简称柬埔寨青联，对今年亚洲青年领袖论坛的主题“增强青年合作，凝聚共同价值观，促进亚洲和平与发展”表示坚定的支持，这是一个非常好的选题。我们坚信，只要我们秉持开放、包容、相互理解、相互尊重的精神，携手应对共同挑战，不断进步，青年就能为促进亚洲和平发展的崇高事业带来无限的影响。

柬埔寨一向用行动证明其致力于促进青年参与国家和区域的社会经济发展，这体现在柬埔寨青年积极参与柬埔寨王国政府遏制和缓解新冠疫情影响的工作，参与履行柬埔寨作为2021年第十三届亚欧首脑会议东道主和2022年东盟主席国的职责，参与筹办即将进行的东南亚运动会和东盟残疾人运动会，并参与2023年大选前的各种关键进程。

为了创造有利的条件和环境，促进青年深入交流与合作，柬埔寨于2021年联合举办了第四届亚欧基金会青年领袖峰会，这是一个为期10个月的线上线下相结合的项目，来自51个亚欧国家的青年为了实现《2030年可持续发展议程》作出了自己的贡献，我们在联合国教科文组织世界遗产吴哥窟前举行了团结树植树仪式。此外，作为2022年东盟主席国，我们持续致力于青年发展，发表了东盟领导人关于“东盟青年之年”的声明，并组织了多场青年相关的主题活动。

各位领导、各位嘉宾：

无独有偶，此次重要的论坛展示了青年在增进亚洲青年相互了解、交流思想和最佳实践以及促进合作这一共同使命中所发挥的主导作用。在本次论坛的各个主题环节中，我们可以看到，每个国家都为通过促进区域层面的和平与发展来提升自身的韧性这一共同目标带来了独特的贡献和角度。

就我们而言，柬埔寨青联的项目和活动旨在提升柬埔寨青年的能力，并得到了政府的全力支持，这些项目和活动尤其注重通过慈善、文化和社会事业推动国家和民族的共同发展。例如，我们通过青年经济赋权项目积极支持经济增长和减贫，该项目包括招聘会、数字技术培训、职业技术教育与培训，并且注重帮助高危青年和家庭。此外，我们更进一步，将支持范围扩大到更广泛的社会群体，特别是处于非正规经济中的中小微企业。

为了开辟疫情后的社会经济强劲复苏之路，青年在体育和旅游领域的参与不可或缺。今年，柬埔寨将隆重举办第32届东南亚运动会和第12届东盟残疾人运动会。柬埔寨青联也推出了一个旗舰项目——“岂止于运动会”项目，这是一个全社会的推广计划，不仅要增加体育比赛的媒体曝光，还要向世界展示柬埔寨的文化、历史和我们的其他特色。

上述例子以及在我们公民教育和公共部门能力建设领域所做的其他工作表明，柬埔寨青联采取了坚定的多部门和多利益相关方的方法，这也为柬埔寨青年在国家和地区发展中发挥建设性的作用提供了许多的机会。

借此机会，我想强调一点：如果没有我们的合作伙伴，特别是中华人民共和国政府以及我们的亲密同行——中华全国青年联合会的强力支持和友谊，我们不可能在国家、地区层面取得如此丰硕的成果。中柬两国友谊源远流长，65年来相互尊重、相互理解、务实合作。在这一背景下，柬埔寨青联和中华全国青联，双方开展了密切且富有成效的交流与合作。

各位嘉宾：

作为此次重要论坛的目标，富有成效的交流和合作需要秉持友好和相互尊重的精神，超越国家与国家间的关系，扩大到整个地区。要实现这一目标，一个重要的途径就是坚持宽容和尊重多样性，这也是柬埔寨首相20年来双赢政策的关键要素，实现了柬埔寨现代史上最长的、不间断的和平时期成。将这一重要成就中的经验和教训与亚洲其他国家分享，表明柬埔寨支持推进国际层面的多样性和文化多元主义，从而促进种族间和宗教间的和谐以及对每个国家的历史和发展道路的尊重。正如习近平主席所倡导的，我们应努力实现和而不同。鉴于当今错综复杂又旷日持久的挑战，这更显得尤为重要。

本次论坛同样向我们展示，面对全人类的无数挑战，没有任何一个国家或者阶层可以单打独斗，因此我们必须利用本次论坛交流的想法、经验和愿望，继续鼓励青年发挥作用，使亚洲成为一个更美好的区域。我相信我们的交流促进了发现新的可能性，以及规划基于和平、相互尊重和理解、建设性合作原则的合作道路。

最后，我想重申柬埔寨青年联合会对促进柬埔寨与亚洲其他地区青年交流与合作的坚定决心。祝各位领导和嘉宾身体健康、事业有成。谢谢！

Sok Soken says China-Cambodia relations are characterized by mutual respect and understanding and practical cooperation over the past 65 years.

On 26 March, Sok Soken, member of standing committee and head of international relations and foreign partners department of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, delivered a keynote speech at the Closing Ceremony of the Asia Youth Leaders Forum. Following is the full text of the speech.

Dignitaries from China and across Asia,

Honorable members of the diplomatic corps,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my honor and pleasure today to be in the presence of such established leaders, many of whom have made notable contribution to the cause of promoting peace, prosperity, opportunities, and inclusive and sustainable development of our region.

I am impressed by the level of engagement and quality of ideas and aspirations shared by our distinguished participants, champions, and Olympians over the course of this forum, and indeed these exceptional exchanges would not have taken place without the remarkable efforts of our hosts. Therefore, on behalf of H.E. Hun Many, president of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, allow me to express our appreciation to the China Public Diplomacy Association, the China Foundation for Peace and Development, The People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality, and the Asia Youth Leaders Association for the exceptional hard work and excellent hospitality.

Excellencies and distinguished guests,

The Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia or UYFC for short extends our resounding support to what we believe to be an excellent choice for this year’s theme, that is “Enhance Youth Cooperation, Strengthen Common Values and Promote the Peace and Development of Asia”. We strongly believe that the impacts that young people can create in the noble cause of promoting peace and development in Asia are limitless when all of us commit to working together to address common challenges and drive progress under the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and mutual understanding and respect.

Cambodia has long demonstrated clear commitment to promoting youth participation in the socio-economic development of the country and in the region. This is reflected in the active involvement of Cambodian youths throughout the efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia in containing and mitigating the effects of COVID-19, in executing our role as host of the 13th Asia Europe Summit in 2021 and chair of ASEAN in 2022, in the ongoing preparation to host the upcoming Southeast Asian Games and ASEAN Para Games, as well as in the various crucial processes leading up to our Election this year.

To create an enabling environment for impactful youth exchanges and cooperation, Cambodia in 2021 co-organized the 4th Asia-Europe Foundation Young Leaders Summit, a 10-month-long hybrid program that saw young people from 51 Asian and European countries contribute to the realization of the 2030 Development Agenda, and culminating in a solidarity tree planting ceremony in front of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat. Additionally, as Chair of ASEAN 2022, we continued our efforts in youth development by initiating the “ASEAN Leader’s Statement on the Year of ASEAN Youth”, as well as organizing numerous youth-related side events.

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

In the same manner, this very important forum is testament to the leading role of youth in our shared mission to enhance mutual understanding, the sharing of ideas and best practices, and cooperation between young people across Asia. Throughout the various thematic discussions in this conference, we can observe that each country brings unique contributions and perspectives to our collective endeavors to promote our resilience through peace and development at the regional level. On our part, UYFC’s programs and activities aim to empower young people of Cambodia with full support by the government, especially through charitable, cultural, and social missions for the common cause of the nation and its people. For instance, we actively support economic growth and poverty reduction through our youth economic empowerment program that features career fairs, digital learning, technical and vocational education and training, all while targeting at-risk youths and families. These actions are further complemented by our outreach and support to wider segments of the society especially MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) that are operating in the informal sector.

In order to put us on a strong path of post-pandemic socio-economic recovery, youth engagement in the fields of sports and tourism is indispensable. This year, as Cambodia will proudly host the 32nd Southeast Asian Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games, UYFC has unrolled our flagship program the Beyond the Games campaign. This is a whole-of-society outreach program that aims not only to promote media exposure for the sports competitions, but also to showcase Cambodia’s culture, history, and other aspects of our identity to the world.

As shown in the above examples and as can further be observed in our other efforts in civic education and public sector capacity building, UYFC adopts a firm multi-sector and multi-stakeholder approach. This has also unlocked many opportunities for youth to assume constructive roles in national and regional development.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to highlight that our efforts at the national and regional level would not have enjoyed such fruitful outcomes without the strong support and friendship of our partners, especially the government of the People’s Republic of China and our close counterpart, the All-China Youth Federation. Throughout the years, UYFC and ACYF (All-China Youth Federation) carried out close and fruitful exchanges and collaboration in the backdrop of a remarkably favorable relationship between China and Cambodia, characterized by a long history of friendship, mutual respect and understanding, and practical cooperation over the past 65 years.

Distinguished guests,

As embedded in the goals of this important forum, fruitful exchanges and collaboration need to extend beyond country-to-country relations to the whole of our region in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect. One important way to achieve this is to adhere to the tolerance and respect of diversity, a key element of the Win-Win Policy of Samdech Techo Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia over the past 20 years which has made possible Cambodia’s current and longest uninterrupted peacetime in our modern history. In sharing the lessons gained from this important achievement with the rest of Asia, Cambodia supports the advancement of diversity and multiculturalism at the international level, in order to promote harmony in interracial and interreligious relations as well as respect to each country’s history and path of development. Indeed, as championed by President Xi Jinping, we must strive for harmony without uniformity; this is more important now than ever in light of today’s multi-dimensional and protracted challenges.

Another illustration in this forum is that no single country or segment of society can work alone in light of the myriad challenges before us. As such, we must harness the ideas, experiences, and aspirations shared in this forum and continue to promote the role of young people in making Asia a better region for all. I am confident that our exchanges have helped to identify new possibilities and chart out future paths of collaboration based on the principles of peace, mutual respect and understanding, and constructive collaboration.

In closing, I would like to reiterate the Union of Youth Federations’ unwavering resolve to promote youth exchange and collaboration between Cambodia and the rest of Asia. I wish Excellencies and distinguished guests good health and success in all your endeavors. Thank you.