The Ministry of Civil Service and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to cooperate on job sectors and provide more effective and efficient services to people, a joint press release said.

The MoU signing took place at the ministry and was presided over by Minister Prum Sokha and UNDP Cambodia’s resident representative Nick Beresford. Some 30 other officials from the two institutions attended the event.

“The purpose of the MoU is to open a new chapter in cooperation between the two institutions on reforming public administration.

“We especially need to improve public services through enhancing the ability of officials on innovation, and creating institutions for officials to test innovative ideas to improve public services,” the press release said.

Sokha said: “The cooperation between the two institutions is to support each other to reach mutual goals to strengthen good governance and law, and sustainable and environmental development while Cambodia and the world are being affected by Covid-19.”

Beresford agreed: “Innovation in the public sector has to go beyond learning new methods or tools as they are not sufficient on their own.

“We need to understand how to create an appropriate environment for them to work and pay attention to the core set of attitudes and skills that fuel innovation.”

Both sides agreed to cooperate in four areas – creating funds for innovation, creating study programmes about innovation in public service for the Royal School of Administration, enhancing public services through the application of digital technology in administrative services, and changing some public service laws.

The UNDP used to cooperate with the government to strengthen laws and good governance in the first reformation of public administration from 1990-2006.