Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth is working with his team to create a digital government policy framework. Photo supplied
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications urged a working group to draft a digital government policy framework in line with digital economy policy.
Minister Chea Vandeth said on Tuesday during a meeting at the ministry that it is working on drafting the framework to further study trends at the regional and global level, and collect input from key experts who have expertise in the preparation of such policies.
“The working group in charge of the draft to expedite the discussion of the policy concept paper and to ensure this digital government policy is consistent with the digital economy policy developed by the Supreme National Economic Council.
“In order to make the policy more comprehensive and responsive to the actual needs of the country’s development, [we need] to collect information from ministries and institutions with representatives on the digital government committee.
“The working group will speed up the drafting process so that it can be submitted to the government for review and approval,” he said.
A first draft of Cambodia E-Government Strategic Plan 2018-2023 was drafted in line with the Cambodia ICT Masterplan 2020 and Telecom-ICT Policy 2020.
The plan aims to encourage a shift to a digital economy and promote the use of digital technologies in the public sector to boost efficiency, fairness, transparency and convenience for the people.
In March last year, Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth said the digital economy has been gradually taking shape and creating new business activities in digital payments, online entertainment and E-commerce while increasing the number of users adapting themselves to the use of these technologies in the Kingdom.
Speaking at the first National Consultation Workshop on Policy and Direction of Cambodia’s Digital Economy in Phnom Penh, he said: “For a developing country like Cambodia, new technologies provide an opportunity to leapfrog, bypassing traditional phases of development.
“To keep pace with globalisation and global integration, Cambodia without a doubt cannot avoid the impact of Industry 4.0 – the government must concentrate on finding opportunities and managing risks.
“Cambodia’s digital economy remains at the nascent stage . . . [It] may need to spend the first five years bringing all the fundamental elements together for digital readiness, and another five to 10 years growing the digital economy into a technology-driven market.”
“On the subject, it is worth clarifying that Cambodia has no intention of creating a Silicon Valley or a targeted unicorn start-up company. Our strategic vision is to create a robust digital environment that allows the country’s small and large firms to connect to global value chains,” he said.
That month, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced a $5 million a year entrepreneurship fund to support start-ups in terms of financing, technical expertise, marketing, production and training.
