Indonesia and Cambodia Explore Cooperation in State Apparatus Empowerment

Indonesia and Cambodia are opening opportunities for cooperation in the field of state apparatus empowerment as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral relations that have been established for around 67 years. “This bilateral meeting is a good opportunity to explore possible cooperation that will strengthen Indonesia-Cambodia relations, particularly in the areas of public governance, bureaucratic reform, and state apparatus empowerment,” said Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Rini Widyantini in a written statement on Wednesday (29/7/2026). The bilateral meeting was held at the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform on Tuesday (28/7). The meeting was led by Minister Rini representing the Government of Indonesia and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Civil Service of the Kingdom of Cambodia, HE Hun Many. Both parties agreed to explore various forms of cooperation to strengthen governance in their respective countries. Minister Rini stated that the meeting was an important momentum for exchanging experiences and best practices, particularly in the fields of public governance and bureaucratic reform. In addition, cooperation also has the potential to be developed in digital transformation, human resource development, public services, and administrative supervision of government. On that occasion, Minister Rini also explained the strategic role of the PANRB Ministry, including various efforts to transform public governance that support the national development agenda and Indonesia’s accession process to become a full member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She also introduced eight priority strategies for public governance transformation currently being implemented by the government. In the field of public services, Rini explained that Indonesia has established 313 Public Service Malls (MPP) and developed omnichannel services to make it easier for the public to access various government services. According to her, cooperation with Cambodia has great potential to be developed, especially in the areas of digital transformation, apparatus development, institutional capacity strengthening, and improving the quality of public services. Forms of collaboration that can be undertaken include employee exchange programmes, sharing best practices, joint capacity building, as well as research and training. “We believe that the cooperation to be established between Indonesia and Cambodia will provide mutual learning and will have a good long-term impact for both countries,” said Minister Rini. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Civil Service of Cambodia, HE Hun Many, outlined the progress of public governance reform in his country. He explained that the modernisation of public administration in Cambodia is currently being carried out through the Pentagon Strategy, which focuses on improving the performance of government agencies, apparatus recruitment standards, and the utilisation of technology in registration systems. Hun Many considered the meeting a positive first step to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. Several proposed areas include the exchange of best practices in public services, particularly in the education and health sectors, public administration research, as well as learning and evaluation programmes for civil servants. As a follow-up to the meeting, Minister Rini and HE Hun Many signed a Joint Statement (JS) as a form of mutual commitment to explore broader cooperation. The document contains an agreement between the two countries to explore strategic collaboration in the areas of bureaucratic reform, performance and institutional management, human resource management, public services, and government digital transformation. Through this cooperation, Indonesia and Cambodia hope to create collaboration that provides long-term benefits for both countries.