PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has stated that he could not give any big jobs to officials who do not know how to use communication technology because of the difficulty communicating with them for work, and the limitation in not using this technology for further progress.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Cambodia-Korea Friendship ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) building Hospital of Ang Duong Hospital on Monday morning, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that jobs in the present era need to rely heavily on the use of information technology, both on mobile devices and computers, so if officials do not yet know how to use these systems, it is not possible to consider them for promotion in the administration.

He said, "Always only using the [old] phone system! If you do not know how to, then I cannot appoint [you to higher positions]. For example, if you want to be a provincial governor, but you do not know how to use WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, WeChat, or you do not know how to use Zoom for meetings, how would I appoint a meeting with you? I will not [promote such officials], so you have to learn to use all of these [new technologies].”

He stressed that the use of new technology for communication at work is safer than using the old phone systems of the past.

Cambodia recently launched the "Cambodia Digital Economy and Social Policy Framework 2021-2035", a long-term vision for building a vibrant digital economy and society by laying the foundations for promoting digital adoption and digitalization among all social actors, including state, citizen and business actors, to promote new economic growth and improve social welfare based on the "new normalization" trajectory.