New agreement allows Cambodia to implement Singapore’s digital govt products

The Cambodian public service is set to get Singapore-made digital tools to carry out its work, with an agreement signed between Singapore and Cambodia on June 18.

The memorandum of understanding on digital government will allow Cambodia to implement Singapore’s open-source digital government products.

Examples include verification tools for government-issued certificates, an electronic form builder and a URL shortener with anti-phishing and anti-tracking capabilities.

The agreement was signed by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary and Cambodian Minister of Post and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth at the Istana on June 18. It was witnessed by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The Cambodian leader is in Singapore from June 18 for a two-day official visit.

This is the latest high-level exchange involving Singapore’s newly minted leader, who also met Bruneian and Malaysian leaders in the past month.

In conjunction with Mr Hun Manet’s visit, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the National Bank of Cambodia announced the start of the Financial Transparency Corridor Initiative.

The agreement on the initiative was signed in July 2023, and aims to catalyse increased cross-border-related financial services between small and medium-sized enterprises of both countries. The initial batch of participating financial institutions is currently being onboarded, with the first live financing transactions set to begin in the second half of 2024.

Earlier in the day, Mr Hun Manet received a ceremonial welcome at the Istana and called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

During their meeting, President Tharman and Mr Hun Manet reaffirmed the warm and longstanding ties between Singapore and Cambodia, as both countries look towards the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year.

They discussed strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, financial transparency, and food and water security.

Mr Hun Manet also met PM Wong, who then hosted an official dinner for him.

In his speech at the dinner, PM Wong welcomed growing economic ties between Singapore and Cambodia.

He pointed out that Singapore is one of Cambodia’s top investors, with investments in key sectors like real estate, logistics, agribusiness and finance.

Economic cooperation between both countries has expanded to new areas like renewable energy and carbon credits, said PM Wong.

He cited examples like the conditional approval to export one gigawatt of electricity from Cambodia to Singapore, an agreement on carbon credits transfer, and a regional working group to facilitate cross-border electricity trade.

“Such bilateral and multilateral cooperation between our countries contributes to our respective energy transitions and economic goals. They also form an important component of our shared vision of an integrated Asean Power Grid, which will strengthen energy resilience and security for the region,” said PM Wong.

PM Wong said that while Cambodia and Singapore are at different stages of economic development, both countries face common challenges and share similar perspectives and interests on many issues.

PM Wong said: “We both have to navigate a more dangerous and troubled geopolitical environment. We both have a stake in making Asean a strong and robust grouping in the international arena.

“I firmly believe that our two countries can benefit tremendously from greater cooperation. Through Asean, we can also work together to maintain stability and peace in the region, and to ensure continued progress and prosperity for our countries and our peoples.”

PM Wong also added that Singapore stands ready to support Cambodia’s development priorities as it puts in place a long-term socio-economic plan to become a high-income nation by 2050.

Mr Hun Manet said in his speech: “Singapore has been a pivotal partner of Cambodia across various sectors, including trade, economy, infrastructure, development, and people-to-people linkages. Moving forward, we aim to deepen this partnership by exploring new avenues in human capital development, food security, energy security and other vital areas aligned with shared priorities and future aspirations.”

Mr Hun Manet will meet Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on June 19.

He is also scheduled to attend the Cambodia-Singapore Business Forum, organised by the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, the Singapore Business Federation, the Singapore Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia and the Singapore Alumni Association of Cambodia, and visit Nanyang Polytechnic and Keppel Infrastructure@Changi.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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