On 26 March 2024, Permanent Secretary of State Youk Bunna of the Ministry of Civil Service of Cambodia headed a delegation of ASEAN public officials on a study visit to the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) on Public Service Delivery Improvement and Innovation. The delegation consists of over 20 members from the government agencies of public service of ASEAN Member States and officials from the ASEAN Secretariat. Secretary General Shi Zhongjun and persons-in-charge of all the ACC divisions received the delegation. The officials from the Organisation Department of the CPC Central Committee National Civil Servis Administration of China were also present. 

Shi Zhongjun briefed the audience on the ACC’s latest achievements in promoting ASEAN-China exchanges and cooperation in 2023 and its work plans in 2024. He stressed that although both regional and international landscapes are undergoing profound transformation and the global economy is still struggling for full recovery, the historical trend towards multi-polarity and economic globalization remains unchanged, and the aspiration for win-win cooperation among the economies has grown even stronger. Featured with long history of friendship and blessed with fruitful progress in practical cooperation, ASEAN and China enjoy tremendous potential and broader prospects of cooperation towards common development. A closer and stronger ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership does have bearings on ensuring peace and stability in both our region and the world at large. As this year being designated as the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-people Exchanges, the ACC welcomes more visits by ASEAN civil service officials, so as to enhance traditional friendship and further expand practical cooperation between both sides. 

Youk Bunna expressed his appreciation to the bridging role of the ACC in deepening ASEAN-China practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. He stated that, beyond the exchanges on governance and capacity building in public service, the delegation aims to harness the opportunity and explore more new possibilities for ASEAN-China cooperation in the future. AMS with Cambodia included would like to make full use of the platform offered by the ACC as an inter-governmental organization, to cooperate in such areas as vocational education, human resources and tourism-related economy, in the purpose of constantly enriching ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership.