 very much. I'm sorry. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me to provide some remarks regarding the forum. First of all, I'd like to thank the organizers of this event. It has been a very interesting event for me because it's my first time to attend Mekong Regional Land Forum. It's really interesting because you managed to bring a lot of stakeholders ranging from, of course, the companies, the researchers, the civil society organizations among others, and of course the business sector. I think that this is a very good way of promoting and talking more deeply about the ASEAN RAI guidelines and what are the potentials that these guidelines have in terms of ensuring sustainability, ensuring better social benefits, as well as, of course, addressing the interests of both the public, the private sector and the communities, so are the ones who will host some of these investments. I think that the few things I'd like to highlight and acknowledge as really great contributions are, of course, first the whole issue of community land tenure. For indigenous peoples, this has always been the big part of their struggle to make the governments recognize that they have their own customary land tenure systems because they existed even long before governments came into the picture, and many of the systems knowledge and practices are continuing up to the present. And it's very encouraging to note that the Mekong countries still have these systems, customary systems in place, and the governments in their national laws to a certain degree recognize these. And of course, the RAI guidelines does recognize the contributions of the customary land systems in terms of ensuring sustainability and increasing the productivity and utilization of forests. And that's a very good point to start with because in the past, the indigenous or traditional systems, customary systems have been denigrated as backward, not in keeping with modern systems and therefore they have to be dealt away with. And now evidence shows that indeed in communities for community land tenure systems exist, the forests are in a much better shape than other forests. And that's the other thing that I would like to also appreciate in this forum because a lot of the work that you have done and also the presentations are a really evidence-based. So these are results of research has done, the documentation of situations. And so this cannot be questioned when we are pushing for these principles that we believe in, as well as principles that indigenous peoples have always been fighting for. I think that the way that the forum has has described the contribution of community land tenure, recognition of community land tenure in terms of ensuring better sustainability, in terms of ensuring inclusion, as well as building upon existing practices and knowledge, as well as governance systems. It's really something that has to be stressed. I also note that the challenges have been identified. And of course, one of the key challenges is really that while there are national policies in place that do mention customary land tenure, the process of allocating forests for communities has been rather slow and resources are not provided to ensure a more efficient and speedy recognition and allocation of these lands. Therefore, while these customary land tenure systems exist, the process towards this being formalized into statutory law has also been slow. And many companies, whenever you ask them whether they are recognizing these rights, their answer is always, well, if there is a law that recognizes community land rights or community land tenure systems, then of course, we have to follow it. And we know that customary land tenure systems, they are customary, they are not inscribed in the national law. So that's why the whole process of recording and documenting the customary land systems is really crucial because how will companies know which of these areas are customarily owned and managed? These have to be recorded, documented, and registered. And I'm glad to note that there are processes in several countries that provide land registration certificates to those communities who have been practicing and who still continue to practice these customary land tenure systems. So that's really something I appreciate very much. And I hope that the groups who have been working on this will continue to contribute to these efforts. I also know that for instance, the reports of some companies, I can see that they have been engaging not just with the CSOs, but also with the communities. And that's the third point I would like to mention, this free, prior informed consent. It really warms my heart to see that free, prior informed consent is discussed in the most candid way. And even the companies which spoke today have mentioned this. Of course, we know for a fact that that's not the norm. A lot of private sectors and even some government bodies don't necessarily like to hear about free, prior informed consent because we have to admit that the process of obtaining free, prior informed consent is not very simple. It's so complex. A lot of consultations, information sharing, dialogues, constructive dialogues have to be held until finally we can say that the consent has been obtained. And I appreciate that these private companies have done what they can to obtain free, prior informed consent. And that the communities are also engaging closely with the local authorities for them to be able to have to, for them to impress on the state and in the companies that their free, prior informed consent has to be obtained. Of course, we recognizing those difficulties is one thing, but seeing how these are being done in practice on the concrete and on the ground is something that has to be shared widely. You know, in my stint as the rapporteur, it's always that's always a question that states raise. How do you do it? And are there successful experiences in terms of obtaining free, prior informed consent? And it would be very helpful if the documentation of these successful practices will be done and shared more widely because then governments as well as other companies will realize that it really can work. And of course, the conclusion also that, you know, by obtaining the free, prior informed consent of indigenous peoples and ensuring the inclusion, this will lead to less risks as well as to more, more stable investment. You know, we have seen, I have seen in many places when this is not obtained, the right to have their consent obtained is not done. Then there comes a lot, then what follows normally are conflicts, you know, there is a strong resistance. And when the indigenous people start to resist, then again, you can see the strong hand of the state being imposed on them, you know, some of them are being harassed, some of them are arrested and criminalized, you know, and this is a reality that we have to also recognize and we have to deal with. We cannot ignore the fact that there is still a lot of resistance to the assertion of rights of the communities, the indigenous peoples, in my particular, from a particular vantage point. And these are going to continue to happen for as long as this right is not respected. Of course, the benefits, you know, the benefits that can be obtained by respecting these rights cannot be understated. There are many benefits, not just for the state, but also for the companies and for indigenous peoples. I always say that, you know, indigenous peoples are part of nation-state building. They are also helping build the nation. So it's in the interest of companies and the government to involve them to ensure that inclusion is a principle that is followed when they are dealing with them. And that I saw is also part of the discussions that we have heard so far. I think that the potential of discussions and forums like this is very important, you know. I would hope that there are much more, many more other regions or countries in Southeast Asia, in ASEAN, you know, who will also be benefited from such a kind of process where the academics are helping in evolving the evidence, the communities are involved, and the state and the private companies themselves are brought together with the communities to talk in more detail how these kinds of principles and standards are going to be operationalized. You know, there are many existing standards. The big problem really is how to operationalize this. And it was mentioned in the forum that one of the big problems are legal ambiguities or the overlaps in legal systems, you know. There are legal systems which recognize those rights, but there are also laws which are, there are laws which recognize those rights, but there are also laws which undermine those rights. And there is a need to analyze existing laws to see where there are synergies as well as to see where there are conflicts, and states should be able to deal with these conflicts using the values and principles of respecting rights as a framework. So these legal ambiguities have to be addressed as well. I only have a few minutes left, so I'd just like to say that, again, I congratulate you for organizing this forum. I certainly hope this kind of forum can be extended to other countries as well into other regions. And whatever reports that will come out will be shared widely with other companies as well as with other states and also with indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples meet among themselves and share also these experiences. And, you know, as a final point, I would just like to say that, you know, by communities being empowered, you know, to know, to be informed of what is going to happen to their communities, to be involved in decision making, and to be able to ensure that God governance and corruption and illegality will, you know, will persist. Good governance is really a key principle that has to be in place. If we have this kind of picture in several countries and in the Macon countries in particular, then we can be very proud. We can become very proud of this region and make it as a model where such kinds of discussions and processes are discussed, and they are used to influence policies and national laws. I congratulate the countries which have come out with their land laws and forest laws, which recognize customary land tenure and prepare informed consent. And I hope that this will be implemented as they should, and the communities themselves are involved in designing and making this real. There was also a mention of a social, you know, forestry enterprises which have been developed that have