CCRS will organize the Seminar on the Law of the Sea: Towards Peaceful Maritime Cooperation in Southeast Asia on 19 February 2024 at Fairfield by Marriot.
Cambodia is a coast country facing the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia’s sea is rich in marine resources. It also provides a crucial waterway for a free flow of goods to meet the growing demands of international trade.
Regional and international cooperation is indispensable to protect maritime rights and interests. Subscribing to international laws and norms on the maritime domains – including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its judicial bodies, like the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea – would help prevent conflicts that might affect the sustainable development of Cambodia’s sea and coastal region.
Cambodia has signed the UNCLOS since 1983.
Against this backdrop, this seminar will explore the benefits of UNCLOS and its judicial bodies for states, like Cambodia, and how it can facilitate Cambodia’s maritime interests based on cases of delimitation and dispute settlement between the party states. The seminar also introduces how national legislation and measures should be developed to fully implement the UNCLOS.
*This seminar is by-invitation only.
| Program | |
|---|---|
| 08:00 – 08:30 | Registration |
| 08:30-08:55 | Welcome remarks Him Raksmey, Executive Director, CCRS Opening remarks H.E. Amb. Ueno Atsushi, Ambassador of Japan to Cambodia |
| 08:55-09:35 | Session 1: Introduction to UNCLOS By Dr. Naoyuki Kanno, Nihon University In this session, the distinguished expert will lay out the basic elements of UNCLOS, including the benefits of UNCLOS for the contracting parties on maritime cooperation and maritime resource management. More than that, this session will also cover the obligations of contracting parties as well as laying out maritime dispute settlement mechanisms, such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. |
| 09:35-10:00 | Coffee break |
| 10:00-10:40 | Session 2: The Importance of UNCLOS for Southeast Asia Keynote Lecture by Judge Hidehisa Horinouchi, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In session 2, Judge Horinouchi will lay out the importance of UNCLOS for states in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia. He will also discuss the implications of ratification of UNCLOS as well as examine how national legislation and measures should be developed to fully implement the UNCLOS. |
| 10:40-11:50 | Session 3: Prospects and Challenges of UNCLOS in Southeast Asia – Judge Hidehisa Horinouchi, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea – Dr. Naoyuki Kanno, Nihon University – Dr. David Koh, Senior Lecturer, VinUniversity, Vietnam and Visiting Distinguished Senior Fellow, CCRS – Ms. Emma R. Sarne, Minister and Consul General, the Philippine Embassy to Cambodia Moderated by Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS In this panel discussion, role players will discuss the current state of maritime cooperation in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, and the benefits of UNCLOS in enhancing such cooperation. This session will also discuss relevant prospects and challenges of UNCLOS in the region. The session will open floors for audiences to interact, share comments, and ask questions to the panel. |
| 11:50-12:00 | Wrap up and closing remarks by Amb Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS |
About our role players
Hon. Judge Hidehisa Horinouchi
Member, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Hon. Judge Hidehisa Horinouchi was elected as a Member of the International Tribunal for the Law of Sea (ITLOS) in October 2023. Prior to his current position, Judge Horinouchi has been in different positions, including the Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands (2019 – 2023) and to the Kingdom of Cambodia (2016 – 2019). Over more than four decades of a diplomatic career, he has been charged with legal affairs and treaties portfolios several times, in addition to Asian affairs and international intelligence analysis. Judge Horinouchi is a graduate of Tokyo University and attended Nanjing University in China and Harvard Graduate School. He has been a lecturer on international law at Waseda University’s Graduate School of Law.
H.E. Amb. Ueno Atsushi
Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom of Cambodia
Ambassador Ueno Atsushi has been the Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom of Cambodia since 2023. Prior to this post, he was the Assistant Minister and the Director-General for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. He had posted to various Japanese overseas missions, including the Deputy Chief of Mission to China and to the Philippines. He obtained his Master Degree from the Columbia University, the United States and attended the Peking University, China and Tokyo University, Japan.
H.E. Amb. Pou Sothirak
Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS
Ambassador Pou Sothirak is a retired academic currently serving as the Distinguished Senior Advisor to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS). He was the Executive Director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace from May 2013 to August 2023. He was appointed as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia from September 2013 to January 2014. He was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of the Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore from January 2009 to December 2012. He also served as Cambodian Ambassador to Japan from April 2005 to November 2008. He was elected Cambodian Member of Parliaments twice during the national general election in 1993 and 2003. He was appointed as Minister of Industry Mines and Energy of the Royal Government of Cambodia from 1993 to 1998. He has written extensively on various issues concerning the development of Cambodia and the region.
Ms. Emma R. Sarne
Minister and Consul General
The Philippines Embassy in Cambodia
Ms. Emma Sarne is a Career Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Minister and Consul General of the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in 2000 as a class IV Foreign Service Officer, and passed the Career Minister Examinations in 2014. She has been posted in Cambodia since May 2021.
Prior to her latest assignment, she was the Director of the Socio-Cultural Division of the Office for the United Nations and Other International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs (2019-2021). She also previously served as Director for South East Asia I in the Office for Asian and Pacific Affairs (2010 – 2011), Special Assistant of the Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns (2011), Director for Maritime and Oceans Governance of the Ocean Concerns Office (2011-2012), Acting Director of the Administrative Services Division of the Office of Personnel and Administrative Services (2000-2004) and Assistant Board Secretary to the Board of Foreign Service Examinations (2002-2004).
She has been posted as Minister and Consul at the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in London, UK, and Alternate Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London (2012-2018). She also served as First Secretary at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations (UN) in New York from 2004 to 2010, and Alternate Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN Security Council from 2004-2005.
Prior to joining the DFA, Ms. Sarne was a Senior Foreign Affairs Research Specialist (1994 – 1999) at the Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies of the Foreign Service Institute, focusing on maritime boundary delimitation, maritime territorial issues, and ocean concerns. She was also an Instructor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines, Tacloban College (1991-1993)
She has been invited to present papers at international conferences and has published works on maritime issues, namely: The Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity including Marine Genetic Resources (Roundtable Discussion on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea fifteen years after its entry into force), United Nations; 2010; Strengthening Maritime Cooperation in the Asia Pacific: Beyond the Crisis-Challenges and Opportunities (13th Asia-Pacific Roundtable), ISIS Malaysia; 2000; Philippine Ocean Initiatives: Regional Maritime Management and Security: Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 124. (Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies), The Australian National University; 1998.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and units in the Bachelor of Laws program also at the same University. She has taken executive courses with the UNITAR program for diplomats in New York, the Rhodes Academy for Oceans Law and Policy in Greece, the Law of the Sea Course for Diplomats from ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat at the Clingendael – Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
She resides in Quezon City and has two sons.
Dr. David Koh
Senior Lecturer, VinUniversity
Visiting Distinguished Senior Fellow, CCRS
Dr. David Koh is Singapore Chinese born, bred, and based in Singapore. His work experience over the last thirty years included copy-writer in an advertising agency; as a medical records clerk; as a radiography stenographer; a prisons officer, a high school teacher, foreign service officer, researcher and research program lead, journal editor, conference/seminar organiser and moderator, university lecturer, World Bank & UNDP consultant, academic entrepreneur, Board Chairman of an NGO, Town Council member, and last but not least, a businessman.
His research interests include Vietnam’s politics, socio-economic development, and foreign policy; National politics of Southeast Asian countries; International politics and major powers in Southeast Asia.
Dr. Naoyuki Kanno
Assistant Professor of International Law
Nihon University
Dr. Naoyuki KANNO is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Nihon University, Japan. He earned a Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Tokyo. His main interest is the law of the sea, especially piracy in international law and jurisdiction over maritime crimes. His publication includes “Combating Migrant Smuggling in the context of Illegal Migration in Europe: Enforcement Measures against the Stateless Vessels on the High Seas” (2022).
Mr. Him Raksmey
Executive Director, CCRS
Him Raksmey is the Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS), a newly-created independent foreign policy think tank based in Cambodia, starting from December 2023. He was a research fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP) from 2018-2023 while serving as Personal Assistant to the 4th Executive Director of CICP. From March 2022 to December 2023, he also was a researcher at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), and a lecturer at the Department of International Relations (DIR), Institute for International Studies and Public Policy (IISPP), Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
His research interests include: Cambodia’s Domestic and Foreign Affairs, ASEAN and Political Security in Southeast Asia as well as various strategic trends concerning the region.