Embassy of the United States

Speech

Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, Grant Signing Ceremony for Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation

Your Royal Highness Prince Sirivuth
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honor for me to be here with you this morning to sign grant awards for two very worthy cultural preservation projects.  The first project is for heritage management here at Prasat Han Chey under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, while the second is for archaeological investigations at the Cheung Ek circular earthworks to be conducted by the Royal Academy of Cambodia.  These grants are being funded by the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, which was created by the U.S. Congress in 2001 in order to assist less developed countries in preserving museum collections, ancient and historic sites, and traditional forms of expression.  In 2006 the Ambassador's Fund will support 87 cultural preservation projects in 76 countries, which means that Cambodia is only one of 11 countries to have 2 projects funded this year.

The importance of the past is sometimes forgotten in the rush of everyday life.  But the past is crucial to our future.  Without knowledge of the past and respect for our history, we are rootless and lost.  The past ought to be an inspiration and a source of creativity for those who live today.  And we all know, one of Cambodia’s most precious assets is its cultural heritage.  But your historic monuments suffer from years of neglect, looters have targeted archaeological sites and ancient temples, and priceless carvings and artifacts held in the national collection are deteriorating due to the ravages of time.  The U.S. is committed to the protection of Cambodia’s heritage, and these two grants represent just one aspect of my country's assistance to Cambodia in this endeavor.

Although, over the last few years, the U.S. government has provided nearly three quarters of a million dollars to fund cultural preservation projects in Cambodia, including restoration work at Phnom Bakheng, this is the first time we have been able to directly fund the Ministry of Culture.  Additionally, in 2003 the U.S. and Cambodia signed a bilateral agreement that imposes import restrictions on Khmer archaeological material entering the United States.  The agreement comes up for renewal in 2008, and the U.S. Embassy is committed to working with the Ministry of Culture to ensure this happens.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has been quoted as saying: "We are well aware that both tangible and intangible cultural heritage constitutes a harmonious whole in the national identity.  These cultural assets testify to the evolution of the civilization of a nation. Cultural heritage is usually regarded as the soul of the nation.  Therefore, the protection of cultural heritage should not be confined solely to the government, but is also the duty of each citizen."  The United States is proud to be a partner in the protection and preservation of Cambodian cultural patrimony.  And we join in the Prime Minister's call for each and every person to play his and her part.

To conclude, I would like to commend Dr. Bong Sovath of the Ministry of Culture and Mr. Kaseka Phon of the Royal Academy of Cambodia for developing such excellent proposals.  I wish you every success as you oversee this important work.  And finally, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to His Royal Highness, for his advocacy and support on behalf of the Ministry of Culture.   Congratulations and thanks.