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Opening Remarks of Dr. Kao Kim Hourn,
President,
University of Cambodia At the First Annual
Leadership and Career Development Conference
University of Cambodia, 4 August 2006
H.E. Mr. Oum
Mean, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of
Labor and Vocational Training;
Excellencies,
Distinguished
national and international guests
Ladies and
Gentlemen
1.
Good morning and welcome. It is a great
pleasure for me to be here this morning, on
behalf of Dr. Haruhisa Handa, Chancellor of
the University of Cambodia as well as on my
own behalf, to open the first annual
Leadership and Career Development Conference
and to officially launch the University of
Cambodia’s Leadership and Career Development
Center. The Leadership and Career
Development Conference has been made
possible through the generous support of the
Sasakawa Peace Foundation, which I wish to
express our appreciation. The Sasakawa Peace
Foundation has been supporting several
projects of the University of Cambodia in
the past few years.
2. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank
our distinguished speaker for this opening
session of the first annual Leadership and
Career Development Conference—H.E. Mr. Oum
Mean, Undersecretary of State of the
Ministry of Labor and Vocational
Training—for taking the time to discuss the
current labor market trends and growth
potential with us this morning. I would
also like to take a moment to thank all of
the distinguished panel chairs and panelists
for joining us to share their perspectives
and knowledge on the current labor market
trends as well as the state of leadership
and career development.
3. At
the same time, I wish to extend a warm
welcome to our very distinguished friends
from Ohio University—Dr. Greg Emery of the
Global Leadership Center and Professor
Nandan Rangan of the College of Business—for
joining us this morning as well.
4.
This conference will give all of us the
opportunity to review and discuss the
current national and regional labor markets
as well as learn from government officials
and leading experts what the current trends
are indicating for future growth and
expansions opportunities.
5. By
taking this occasion to assess the current
labor market trends we can better understand
what work still needs to be done in order to
provide future generations, particularly our
Cambodian graduates and students, with an
even brighter tomorrow. Starting this
morning with a review of the current labor
market will allow us all to be well equipped
for this afternoon’s analysis of where the
current trends will take the national and
regional labor markets in the future and how
current training initiatives as well as
educational curriculum will better prepare
tomorrow professionals and young leaders.
6. As I
am sure many of you are aware, there are
more and more educational opportunities
becoming available for our younger
generations. While this is an important
step in the right direction, there is still
work that needs to be done, particularly
with regard to soft skills development. By
creating the Leadership and Career
Development Center the University of
Cambodia hopes to provide another important
step on the path of educational
opportunities.
7. The
first Annual Leadership and Career
Development Conference not only provides
the opportunity to review the current labor
market trends, but also serves as the
official launch of the new Leadership and
Career Development Center at the University
of Cambodia. While the specific details of
this exciting new innovative center will be
fully elaborated on by my colleagues at a
later point during this conference, I would
like to take a moment to just say a few
words about the center.
8. The
Leadership and Career Development Center is
open to everyone, not just students from the
University of Cambodia. By opening the
center to the community at large, a wider
variety of people will be able to benefit
and be served by the center and its staff.
This means that a greater number of
individuals will be able to benefit from the
different opportunities and services that
the center has to offer. The Leadership and
Career Development Center aims to provide
career services and professional development
resources to students and community
members. The goal is to give individuals
the opportunity to explore different career
possibilities through experience, to gain
the skills need to successfully seek and
obtain employment and to plan a meaningful
career path for the future. By empowering
individuals, especially the newly graduates
and students, through resources and
opportunities LCDC creates a more confident
and skilled workforce for the future of
Cambodia.
9.
Thank you and once again welcome to the
First Annual Leadership and Career
Development Conference.
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