The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) together with Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC), and Ministry of Commerce, Royal Government of Cambodia, jointly hosted a workshop on "Implementing Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity: Enhancing Institutional Connectivity in Cambodia"

It was to discuss various types of institutional connectivity problems in the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. Key speakers and panelists were policy makers from relevant government's sectoral bodies, ASEAN secretariat, dialogue partners, academia, ERIA's researchers, and representatives from private sector. More than 150 participants attended the workshop. 

The forum opened with remarks from H.E. Dr. Aun Porn Moniroth, Chairman, Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC), Minister attached to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Mr. Hidetoshi Nishimura, Executive Director of ERIA. Both emphasized that the workshop provided an opportunity for policy makers, government officers, national, and international researchers, and key stakeholders to deepen their insights and to identify institutional and legal challenges to be addressed to ensure the successful implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity and ASEAN Community Building by 2015. 

During the one-and-a-half-day workshop, participants engaged in very stimulating and candid discussion on the status of the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, institution building and regulatory reforms, potential gains from the implementation of Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, and measures to the problems, a strategy for and priority to the timely implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. 

At the end of the forum, H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Permanent Vice Chairman, Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC), Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Governing Board Member of ERIA, conveyed the concluding remark by sincerely thanking ERIA and Ministry of Commerce for the success of the workshop and highlighting key results from the workshop that can serve as a groundwork for the next high-level symposium to be held again in Phnom Penh before the ASEAN Summit. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Hidetoshi Nishimura, Executive Director of ERIA stressed that the results from the stimulated discussions at the workshop would provide clear vision and direction for accelerating the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity towards the realization of the ASEAN Community Building by 2015.

ERIA Organizes a Workshop on Implementing Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.pdf