KOH KONG: While meeting with thousands of factory workers, Prime Minister Hun Manet once again extolled the value of peace, reminding the crowd of the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge regime.

On the morning of January 8, the PM met with more than 10,000 garment factory workers in Koh Kong’s Mondul Seima District where he continued the dialogue of his father, which prioritizes peace above all. As he has done in many speeches, he credited peace for bringing development to Cambodia’s remote provinces.

The PM’s remarks come a day after Cambodia celebrated the 45th anniversary of the January 7 Victory Day, which marks the day the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS), with the support of Vietnamese volunteer troops, liberated Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge Regime in 1979.

Prime Minister Hun Manet said that the end of the war made way for Cambodian rights of freedom, specifically noting that environmental rights activists are free to visit the province and criticize the government. Koh Kong Province has been a center of concern for conservationists, who have claimed that huge spans of protected land and wildlife sanctuaries are being exploited and cleared.