AKP Phnom Penh, September 12, 2018 —Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, suggested this morning key factors for ASEAN to catch up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, at the 27th World Economic Forum on ASEAN being held in Hanoi, Vietnam from Sept. 11 to 13.
The Cambodian Premier said that ASEAN should create ASEAN vision for ASEAN Industry 4.0 with comprehensive and inclusive feature that is based on the existing ASEAN initiative by cooperating important development programme in the areas of technology and human resource, legal framework, hard and soft infrastructure of IT and reform programme for ASEAN and member countries.
ASEAN, he continued, should formulate human resource development programme, focusing on enhancing the quality of education and skill training, addressing job losses and developing social protection system to address economic and social inequality. ASEAN should promote the development of ecology system, supporting research and innovation in the region, enhancing entrepreneur capacity in developing new business model, creating new jobs and setting new direction for the future economy. Next, ASEAN should continue to improve hard and soft infrastructure and especially enhancing an existing connectivity as well as continue to promote regional and intra-regional integration in order to further develop resilience foundation for ASEAN nations to explore benefits from global new growth context.
On the occasion, Samdech Techo Hun Sen mentioned about high potential of Cambodia to see the opportunity arising from the Forth Industrial Revolution such as demographic dividend, increasing numbers of educated youths, raise their fast absorb shone of digital technology; rapid increase in the use of smart phones with high usage rate; fast technological spill overs from the inflow of foreign direct investment; and fast digitalisation which is taking place in all key economic sector such as infect sector and e-commerce sector.
The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), he stressed, has been formulating and dividing policy in line with these emerging trends to see opportunity. The RGC promotes the progress of technology in business markets, manages business environment as well as mitigates and expects risks arising from these technological development. The RGC is getting ready for digital economies and responding to the Fourth Industrial Revolution has become a prioritised goal of RGC in this mandate.
“We will focus on strengthening and expanding the foundation of these digital economy in both hard and soft. Developing human resources and skills in line with these new context. Developing legal and regulatory framework as well as promoting and enhancing civil research and innovation. Cambodia is needed in promoting and developing of entrepreneurship and SMEs with aims to creating a reorienting jobs and reorganise direction for development, especially first capacity and enhancing programme by focusing on an entrepreneur skill and business management including creating entrepreneurial, culture and behavior through digital platform and 2nd developing business support programme by providing business counselling and technology support including the development research and development centre,” said Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
The Cambodian Prime Minister concluded his remarks by expressing his gratitude to the people and Government of Vietnam for the invitation and warm hospitality and wished this meeting success with fruitful outcome for the interest of ASEAN Community.
By So Sophavy
