The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction said that Cambodia has reached a point where it allows Cambodia to have choices in the use of building materials. In fact, today, through a consultation workshop, the ministry raised the topic of asbestos to discuss to further understand the benefits and impacts of this substance, which is an ingredient in many important building materials such as roofing materials, insulation materials, flooring materials, fireproof and heat-resistant products, textiles and other materials, among many building materials in Cambodia.

Through studies, asbestos has serious impacts on public health, especially respiratory health, lungs, etc. when there is a breakdown of the structure such as cutting, splitting, dismantling, decay. We have seen that many countries have taken measures to completely prevent the use of this substance, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, etc. Among them, there are also some countries that continue to use this substance by using mechanisms, regulations and standards to control its use, which we can study and learn from.

Therefore, through today's consultation workshop, we will draw on experiences from various countries to discuss, debate, and analyze all the challenges in detail to provide choices to the Cambodian people and reach a consensus on whether to continue using asbestos, or whether to restrict the conditions of use, or whether to increase caution in continuing to use it in accordance with responsible management standards, with the overall goal being to benefit our construction materials industry as well as all Cambodian people.