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Prime Minister Thanks Birthday Well-Wishers

  • Posted Aug 5, 2021 10:37 by Andrew Barnes-Roberts
  • 2540
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Phnom Penh: Prime Minister Hun Sen celebrates his 69th birthday today. In the Khmer tradition, he’s turned 70, having entered his 70th year. As the Prime Minister mentioned at the Peace Palace last Sunday, as he launched child vaccinations, he actually has two birthdays. One of them is a typo, but the 5th of August is his actual birth-date.

Prime Minister Hun Sen was born Hun Bunal on the 5th of August 1952. He changed his name to Hun Sen in 1972, two years after joining the ranks of the Khmer Rouge. It was in 1977 that he defected to fight alongside Vietnamese forces, helping to oust the Khmer Rouge and putting his country on the path to peace.

It would seem he was destined for a record-breaking life in political office. At just 26, he served as the world’s youngest foreign minister, helping steer the negotiations that would create the modern Cambodia we know today. It was January 1985 when Hun Sen accepted the office of Prime Minister when he was appointed by the National Assembly following the death of his predecessor Chan Sy. 36 years later, he is the world’s longest serving Prime Minister.


His “win-win” policy has been the cornerstone of his premiership, rebuilding a country left shattered by genocide and civil war. From one of the world’s last “low-rise capitals”, he has overseen the development of Phnom Penh into one of the fastest growing cities on Earth. Investment continues to pour in – not only from China, but South Korea, Japan, Australia and many of the West’s leading economies. It is these strategic partnerships that have ensured Cambodia has the 2nd highest Covid-19 vaccination rate in Southeast Asia.


With a fondness for Facebook and a self-effacing sense of humour, Prime Minister Hun Sen remains a much-loved leader. He says he’s been receiving birthday messages since April – with a typo back in 1979 stating his birthday as 4th April 1951. But whether you’ve been wishing him a happy 69th, 70th or 71st birthday, he doesn’t seem to mind, taking to Facebook this week to thank everyone for their best wishes.


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