H.E. Chea Vandeth, Minister of Posts and Telecommunication 
Mr. Jueon Han Seung, Director, Public Data Policy Division, Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), Republic of Korea

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, participants, government representatives from the Caucasus (namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), and Asia and the Pacific (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and the Philippines)

Good morning, and a warm welcome to all in Phnom Penh.

Allow me to begin by recognizing H.E. Chea Vandeth for his leadership and dedication to accelerating digital transformation and building strong foundations for a digital society in Cambodia. UNDP deeply values it strategic partnership with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and its great team.

My sincere appreciation goes as well to Mr. Jueon Han Seung, representing the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea for its critical role and global leadership in promoting digital transformation that is innovative and inclusive. And of course, I will be remiss if I do not mention my colleagues in UNDP Kazakhstan and Astana Civil Service Hub who are fostering critical exchange of knowledge and accelerating needed capacity development in the public service to drive digital transformation across the regions.

This workshop is part of the regional initiative, “Capacity Development of Public Servants for Advancing Digital Governance and Digital Transformation (2024–2026),” jointly implemented by the Astana Civil Service Hub UNDP Kazakhstan. This initiative is founded on the transformative power of collaboration in shaping inclusive and sustainable digital futures.

Digital transformation and the adoption of digital solutions such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) for instance are revolutionizing governance, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and citizen-centric services. Yet, they also result in complex challenges relating to ethical dilemmas, exclusionary risks and biases, regulatory considerations, and new capacities that demand our collective attention and action.

At the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, we regard digital transformation as an enabler and an accelerator of sustainable development. We support governments in navigating this evolving landscape by developing institutional capacities and ensuring that digital advancements are inclusive, equitable, and accessible to all, particularly the most vulnerable. In Cambodia, we supported the Royal Government in adopting digital solutions for reaching the farthest behind, namely, in the registration of poor households (IDPoor) for access to social protection and cash assistance. With the Ministry of Commerce, we supported digital solutions to ensure MSMEs business continuity and their access to e-commerce platform during the Covid-19 pandemic. We continue to support the Ministry in developing its digital transformation masterplan. With the Ministries of Environment, Planning, and Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth we have been developing digital platforms for environmental and social data management, leveraging satellite imagery and artificial intelligence, including for poverty mapping. With the National Bank of Cambodia and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, we are developing a block-chain based platform, the Universal Trusted Credential (UTC), to support access to affordable finance for MSMEs to accelerate their formalisation, where applicable. With the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication, the National Bank of Cambodia, and the Ministry of Interior, UNDP convened a multi-stakeholder dialogue on digital scam and identified priorities and needed regional and global partnerships to support the Kingdom’s efforts in this domain.

To support close monitoring of achievements and timely decision-making, the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and UNDP are developing a monitoring and evaluation framework of the digital economy and society policy framework 2021-25.  

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen,

Workshops like this serve as vital platforms for knowledge exchange, dialogue, and cross-border collaboration, in this instance among the 12 participating countries from the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific regions, and development partners such as the International Telecommunication Union and the World Bank. Today’s event reconfirms our shared dedication to fostering innovative solutions to address not only current multidimensional challenges and uncertainties, but also to leverage multiple opportunities.

Over the next two days, we will explore together best practices, discuss critical policy considerations, and gain insights from international experts and regional peers on the transformative potential of AI in public governance. My colleagues from UNDP Cambodia will share an AI and Machine Learning platform developed in partnership with the Ministry of Planning for mapping poverty and vulnerability in Cambodia to provide policymakers with timely, periodical, and multidimensional disaggregated data on poverty and vulnerability. The platform integrates various datasets to understand patterns and interactions of overlapping deprivations often missed in traditional analyses. We look forward to your comments and advice to include them in the version 2.0.

In closing, I encourage you to engage actively, share your perspectives and advice, and harness this opportunity to build stronger partnerships. Together, we can unlock the potential of AI to create more responsive, inclusive, and resilient service systems that truly serve the people.

I wish you a productive and inspiring workshop and look forward to the outcomes of your deliberations.

Thank you.

Som Orkun.