“ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM IN CAMBODIA”

Speech by H.E. SOK AN

Senior Minister, Minister in charge of
The Office of the Council of Ministers, and
Chairman of the Council for Administrative Reform

Consultative Group Meeting
Phnom Penh
19—21 June 2002

I am honoured and pleased to open this particular session of the sixth Consultative Group Meeting, dealing with Administrative Reform. During this session I will focus my remarks on the Administrative Reform and the Reform of the Armed Forces. I will deal with governance issues and related legal and judicial reform and anti-corruption later.

The Aide-Memoire on Administrative Reform was prepared and circulated prior to this Meeting. The Government looks forward to hearing from you, through the spokesperson for the PAR Working Group and if time permits, from yourselves individually. The Aide Memoire, I believe, clearly links the Programme for Administrative Reform to the overall priorities and strategy of the Government namely, poverty alleviation through good governance and improved service delivery.

My presentation today addresses three key points of interest to the Government and Development Partners alike -

I will address each of these points in turn.

Let’s focus first on progress to date. The cycle of annual Consultative Group Meetings offers the opportunity to gauge on a periodic basis, how well we, as partners, are progressing towards our goals and achieving our targets against the agreed plan of action.

The Government sees the many achievements under phase (1) to end-2001 of the Programme for Administrative Reform (PAR), as being the foundations for the next phases of the reform programme. In this regard there are four key achievements or foundations that I must mention here.

The First Foundation is - “Mechanisms to manage and motivate Civil Servants”.

Based on the civil service census and associated activities, the Government is now implementing a number of mechanisms that complement each other:

The Second Foundation is - “Mechanisms to manage change”

The Government firmly believes that strategic change can be initiated, owned and led by ministries using empowered mission-focused teams — in our case priority mission groups (PMG). The PMG Framework Document and Guidelines have been circulated and endorsed. The PMG Sub-decree will be approved by the end of June. The awareness-raising process has begun by the Council for Administrative Reform. The first PMG is to “Establish PMG capability in ministries”, led by CAR. Despite the cautious start, the Government’s target for 2002 is to have up to 1,000 members on PMG. The Government has committed to paying performance allowances under the 2002 Budget, and has invited development partners to participate fully in view of the many opportunities the PMG programme offers. This needs your commitment and support.

The Third Foundation is - “Mechanisms to strengthen capacities and skills”

Even with reforms going on across ministries and within ministries, there must be real Human Resource Development at the same time. We cannot wait for reforms to finish, and then start HRD. We must anticipate the outcomes, both interim and final, of the reforms and position our human resources accordingly to meet the future needs and means of the Nation. The Government has taken steps to identify the key elements of a HRD Strategy and Master Plan, but without technical co­operation to advise and inform the consultation and formulation process, we may face a period of uncertainty until the “big picture” is resolved.

Hence, completing the Strategy and Master Plan is one of our highest priorities, and technical co­operation is needed urgently. On a positive note the World Bank-funded EPSCB project is to be ratified by the World Bank Board on 25 June. The Project will start in August. More details are given in the Aide Memoire. An important element of this project is the GDLN. With this Centre, Cambodia will be able to access a range of information, best practices and training materials, as well as a state-of-the-art video-conferencing and distance-learning facility. As development partners you will have every opportunity to participate in operationalising and sustaining this facility, as I understand the World Bank’s feasibility study has been shared with you.

The Fourth Foundation is - “Process improvement”

A lot of work has been done to analyze corporate processes — the “back-office. We are now validating norms and standards with a view to improving processes in accounting, administration, planning, HRM, inspection. Work will begin shortly on establishing a common framework for analyzing and improving service delivery processes in the “front-office”, working closely with key ministries. As part of the work, ministries will be applying techniques now under development to improve service delivery and re-organize work within and among ministries. Further technical and financial co-operation is needed urgently to carry out the analysis and to implement requisite change, ministry by ministry.

With the completion of phase (1) of PAR, what can we learn from our work - both achievements and disappointments? Often we can learn more from our disappointments and failures than we can from our successes!

Let us look at what are the factors that promoted successful outcomes:

First, there have been the full commitment and strong support of the Prime Minister in undertaking a wide range of reforms. Whatever resources we have been able to secure, they have been used effectively to carry out our projects.

Secondly, the administrative reform team and management and co-ordination mechanisms are fully operational.

Thirdly, there is a strong sense of national ownership and partnerships are becoming stronger. Let us briefly examine those factors that have constrained our progress.

First, our human and financial resources continue to constrain our efforts at all levels. Thus the need for continuing technical and financial support.

Secondly, the biggest need, even if we had the financial resources, is to strengthen the capacity of institutions and individuals. So many demands — so little time and means.

Thirdly, internal and external communications about the reform must improve to enhance effectiveness and co-ordination. Nobody is perfect, but can we really say that as partners, communications are as effective as they should be?

Where do we go from here?

The NPAR three phases continue to guide our actions. The “Strategy to Rationalize the Civil Service” that was approved by the Government last October fleshes out phases 2 & 3 (re-deployment and development). The reform process is in a period of consolidation (securing recent success) and of preparation for re-deployment and accelerated pay reform if at all possible. I would now like to tell you about the four key components of this Strategy.

The first component is “to improve civil servants’ attitudes and motivation”. This is done through:

I would like if I may to expand somewhat on the reforms undertaken to improve the remuneration of civil servants within sound fiscal management and in ways that are sustainable.

The Royal Government identified pay and employment reform has an early priority of the Administrative Reform. Indeed, the first actions authorized by the Council of Ministers relate to providing civil servants with an environment conducive to productivity and performance. Not only is general remuneration being increased as much as possible within the anticipated fiscal envelope but innovative and targeted programs are being introduced to improve the remuneration of civil servants involved in priority missions. The Government’s general pay reform was articulated in a context of sound fiscal management whereby economic growth will average 6% a year and the salary envelope (Chapter 10) is not to exceed 40% of current expenditures. It is in this context that the strategy will increase average salaries to $51.5 per month by 2006 within the Budget framework. Already, average remuneration increased from $19.5 a month in October 2001 to $26.9 in January 2002 (a 37.9% increase) to $28.1 in May 2002 (a 44.3% increase over October) thus meeting targets set as part of the strategy approved by the Government.

Recognizing that adequate remuneration is central to the future of reforms and to the Administration becoming an effective provider of public services and a reliable development partner, the Government is systematically investigating ways and means to accelerate pay increases within the confine of available resources, sound fiscal management and sustainability.

In the Government’s opinion, there are three key conclusions that can be objectively drawn from our efforts and experiences to date:

The reform is a long-term venture. Yet, two important technical assistance projects to the CAR Secretariat are due to terminate in 2003.

I would like to finish by sincerely thanking all our development partners for their kind attention and support to date.

As I have said, a lot has been achieved for which we all can take pride, but there is still a lot to do, and some challenges such improving service delivery and adapting the Administration to needs and means are as daunting as ever. Nevertheless, we must forge ahead.

We can do so much if we work together, communicate better and be more open about our respective concerns and constraints. The people of Cambodia are looking to us here today to help them overcome poverty, by giving them a public administration that will serve them efficiently, transparently and with integrity.

Can there be any doubt what we, as partners, need to do?

Thank you for your kind attention.

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