Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet presided over the opening of the Heads of Civil Service Meetings for the 23rd ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) and the 8th ACCSM Plus Three at the Sokha Hotel in Siem Reap on the morning of August 5. Held under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community framework, the meetings brought together ASEAN civil service heads, the ASEAN Secretary-General and relevant officials from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Welcoming the delegations, Hun Manet said the meetings offered an important platform to review progress in regional public services, assess opportunities and challenges, and deepen multilateral cooperation. Global economic volatility, complex geopolitical conditions and climate change were placing greater demands on public services, requiring countries to improve quality and efficiency and coordinate their development strategies, he said.
Hun Manet outlined three trends reshaping public services: rising expectations for timely, transparent and professional services; the growing role of digital technology and artificial intelligence; and increasing competition for talent between the public and private sectors. He said Cambodia was pursuing infrastructure improvements and administrative reform under Phase I of its Pentagonal Strategy, strengthening civil service recruitment, performance assessment and incentives to modernize government administration.
He also set out three priorities for regional cooperation: keeping public service innovation focused on people, strengthening human resources and institutional capacity, and building ASEAN’s regional resilience. Cross-border governance challenges called for deeper cooperation in the spirit of the “ASEAN Way”, he said, before formally declaring the meetings open.
