Phnom Penh (FN), Mar. 20 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet highlighted that six countries— the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Argentina— have reformed their public administration systems by reducing ministries and government officials, adopting a “consolidate to strengthen” approach. In contrast, Cambodia has chosen to focus on strengthening its existing structures rather than expanding them.
However, according to the premier, Cambodia has two approaches to follow: Approach 1, “strengthening rather than expanding” and Approach 2, “clean house.”
The premier spoke on Thursday (Mar. 20) during the closing ceremony of 2024 Ministry of Civil Service annual meeting at Premier Centre Sen Sok in Phnom Penh.
Samdech Thipadei explained that the “strengthening over expansion” approach focuses on restructuring organisational frameworks to prevent unnecessary expansion and avoid overlaps, while the “clean house” approach aims to streamline personnel and operations to eliminate redundant work across ministries and institutions.
“Just last year, at least six countries reformed their public administration, and most of them are world superpowers. [...] The largest among them is the US, which established a Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk. In just over a month, they have cut more than 200,000 government positions and are considering abolishing the Department of Education," the premier underscored.
"The UK announced a few days ago that it would reduce the National Health Service by 50 per cent, instructing between 13,000 and 16,000 officials not to return to work, effectively cutting its workforce in half. Pakistan plans to eliminate 150,000 positions. Malaysia has dissolved three ministries, restructured five, and reduced another seven, placing more than 30,000 officials on early retirement. Viet Nam has merged 30 ministries and institutions into 14, plans to cut 10,000 officials, and is considering abolishing district-level administration, leaving only commune and provincial governance. Meanwhile, Argentina intends to reduce its workforce by 70,000,” the premier continued.
On the occasion, Samdech Thipadei also noted that by adhering to the “strengthening over expansion” approach, the premier has rejected multiple requests from departments seeking to be upgraded to general departments to prevent institutional overcrowding. Simultaneously, the “clean house” approach ensures equal opportunities and fair work distribution among officials.
The premier also proposed consolidating the numerous laboratories across various ministries into a single, unified system. He rejected requests from some ministries to commercialize their training schools, advising them instead to focus on offering training courses for government officials, rather than competing with private institutions.
=FRESH NEWS
