The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently to promote cooperation in the digital sector.
Prior to the signing on Monday, Chea Vandeth, Minister of Post and Telecommunications, held bilateral discussions with Heng Sour, Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, focusing on the key priorities that both ministries can work together for the implementation of the Cambodia Digital Government Policy 2022-2035.
The MoU aimed to enhance the efficiency of the public service delivery mechanism for the citizens, said a statement by MLVT.
“Taking advantage of the bilateral meeting, the two ministries signed an MoU which focuses on cooperation in the digital sector. Through this cooperation, MPTC will support the preparation of the Internet Infrastructure at MLVT and all technical and vocational education institutions under it,” the statement said.
The MoU also proposes to help organise digital skills training courses for government officials and support the development of the technology system at MLVT.
This cooperation marks a significant step towards integrating digital technology in public services, ensuring that governmental operations align with modern standards and public expectations, the statement noted.
Heng Sour, Minister of Labor and Vocational Training, thanked MPTC for providing additional technical support which will make sure the official documents issued by MLVT are more accurate and correct by preventing fraud, besides providing more convenience to citizens.
It may be recalled here that MLVT has embarked on a mission to train 1.5 million youth from poor and vulnerable families to help them get gainful employment in tune with changing technology and skills.
According to the findings of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the share of Cambodians engaged in medium- and higher-level technical occupations constitutes only 10.7 percent of the total labour force in the country. This indicates the non-availability of suitably skilled local hands for such jobs and that many industries and service sectors in Cambodia are relying on foreign experts to fill those positions.
A report by ADB said that Cambodia, while having achieved notable progress in education, faces a worsening skills gap as the skills taught by technical and vocational education and training institutions do not appear to be adequately linked to those required by industry.
A Concept Paper of ADB revealed that Cambodia has a population of 16.7 million, 65 percent of whom are younger than 30 years old. An estimated 9.3 million people are active in the labour market, and women account for 49 percent of the total labour force aged 15-64. But the school completion rates in the country remain low, with only 7.4 percent of the labour force having completed some form of post-secondary education.
The labour productivity in Cambodia calculated as $3.6 per hour worked remains lower than that of several other countries in the Southeast Asian region such as Vietnam ($7.3) and Indonesia ($13.1). This low productivity has been widely attributed to the absence of adequate skills education.
But the demographic dividend of having a young population presents an incredible opportunity for the Kingdom to improve the skills of new entrants to the labour market while also upgrading the skills of the existing workforce to match future industry demand.
