PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on all national ministries and institutions to clearly and responsibly divide the work of sub-national administrations on the provision of public services in order to improve the efficiency and sustainability of reform management.

Speaking at the launch of the National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development Phase II on Monday, 21 March, Prime Minister Hun Sen stated that each administrative level should prepare policies and provide services in each sector. Additionally, he said the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD) must continue to strengthen its role in conjunction with other key reform programs, and must coordinate with relevant ministries and institutions to review and revise relevant laws and regulations in line with policies and developments, decentralization and deconcentration reforms.

He added that the NCDD needs to study the appropriate options for establishing specific institutional mechanisms at the national level, which are permanent mechanisms to ensure the effectiveness of leadership, coordination, and monitoring of sub-national administrations, in accordance with the laws and development of decentralization and deconcentration reforms.

At the same time, he also reminded all institutions at both the national and sub-national levels to reduce unnecessary expenditures, including unnecessary public investment projects, to ensure the stability of the national budget, which is in a difficult situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the capital-provincial tax branches must work closely with each capital-provincial administration to collect various fiscal revenues.

Decentralization and deconcentration reforms are being implemented to strengthen good governance, which has been at the core of the Royal Government's Rectangular Strategy for the past three terms, to reorganize the sub-national public administration structure and management system based on development principles in a democratic way.