Prime Minister Hun Manet has emphasised the importance of strengthening, rather than expanding, government ministries and institutions, noting that they should be streamlined for improved efficiency.

He shared his remarks while addressing the March 20 closing ceremony of the Ministry of Public Service.

“The approach of strengthening rather than expanding involves reviewing the organisational structure, adjusting roles and responsibilities to avoid overlap, and tidying up each ministry's operations,” he said.

“This requires reviewing and deploying officials to ensure their roles and work align with the ministry's responsibilities,” he added.

As of January 2025, Cambodia had more than 230,000 civil servants, with 54,585 serving at the national level and 177,449 at the sub-national level.

Instead of requesting expansion, each ministry is tasked with strengthening its institutions to enhance effectiveness and improve the services they provide o the public.

The prime minister encouraged the greater use of digital systems, highlighting that the government offers more than 3,000 services, with documents such as ID cards, family cards and birth certificates being used across multiple organisations.

He urged ministries and institutions to analyze their functions and make adjustments.

For example, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has reduced departments that are not fully operational and merged some functions with other departments.

“Public administration reform is central to the government's efforts for efficiency,” said Manet.

He noted that this is not an isolated effort by Cambodia; many countries are adopting similar approaches.

“At least six countries which are reforming their administrations are powerful economies with larger economies than ours,” he explained.

He mentioned the US, where the Trump administration reduced the federal workforce by more than 200,000 civil servants and plans to abolish the US Department of Education, leaving state education departments to manage education.

Recently, the UK announced a 50 per cent reduction in the number of units under the National Health Service, from 13,000 to 6,000.

“Half of the staff will not have to come to work tomorrow. The US cut 200,000 people. Tomorrow they won’t come to work. That’s it,” he added.

He also noted that the employees of some organisations, such as USAID, Radio Free Asia and VOA, have been told not to report to work due to government spending cuts under the Trump administration, particularly in relation to American interests.

The federal government of Pakistan plans to cut 150,000 officials, while Malaysia is eliminating three ministries, adjusting five others, and reducing seven ministries, along with retiring more than 30,000 officials early.

The prime minister also noted that Vietnam has reduced the number of ministries and institutions from 30 to 22 at the national level, adjusted the sub-national level, and planned to reduce the number of officials by 100,000.

“Vietnam also plans to eliminate districts, leaving only communes and provinces to work directly. Argentina has cut 30,000 officials and plans to reduce this number by another 70,000,” he said.

He explained that these countries have all adopted a consolidation approach, but Cambodia has followed a different model, focusing on strengthening rather than expanding for over a year.

This approach prevents unnecessary expansion into sectors that are not essential, except in education, health and agriculture.

The prime minister also recalled a proposal to merge three ministries: the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology and the Ministry of Rural Development.

However, he would not follow the example of other countries, instead, he encouraged the three to cooperate effectively in performing their work.

“We are not combining ministries and institutions as some have suggested. But we need to their organise roles and responsibilities clearly, coordinate effectively and enhance the synergy of the three ministries,” he said.

“Where there is overlap, we should merge; where there is no cooperation, we should strengthen collaboration,” he continued.