CHEA’s Welcome Ceremony for H.E. Hun Manet

On August 28, 2015, Dr. Y Ratana, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Mr. Ban Bunheng, Deputy Director of the ASEAN Study Center, of the University of Cambodia were assigned by Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Founder and President of University of Cambodia, to participate in the CHEA welcome ceremony for His Excellency Hun Manet at CHEA headquarters located in the Hun Sen Library in Beung Trobaek High School.

1. H.E. Ly Cheng reported that:
- 70 members of CHEA were present for the Welcome Ceremony
- They objectives of CHEA are:

  • help to improve the quality of the education sector in Cambodia;
  • gather human resources; and
  • collaborate with other sectors and institutions.

- CHEA received financial support from Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen and Samdach Kriti-bundith Bun Rany Hun Sen in the amount of 60,000 US$. This budget has been spent for some activities including hosting conferences and seminars, operation expenses, and other administration fees. Now, the budget remains more than 20,000 US$.
- Samdech Techo Prime Minister kindly endorsed the requests of CHEA to wave some tax payments two times already.
- CHEA has been cooperating with universities in other countries, supporting charities, and inviting dis-tinguished guests to share their knowledge, experiences and expertise on relevant topics related to higher education, and other activities.
- CHEA will continue to implement its work-plan, and strive to be more efficient.

2. H.E Dr. Heng Vanda gave warm welcoming remarks to H.E Hun Manet and all participants. He said that this is the third time that H.E. Hun Manet has come to CHEA to give a talk. In his welcoming remarks, he stressed four important points on behalf of CHEA as a whole, they are as follows:

- CHEA congratulates SPM Hun Sen for being elected as the head of CPP;
- CHEA supports SPM Hun Sen to be the Prime Minister candidate of CPP in all mandates;
- CHEA supports SPM’s leadership; and
- CHEA appreciates and owes gratitude to SPM who has given CHEA many chances to meet him since its establishment and provides support including CHEA’s office, and the payment of electricity and water.

He also mentioned and appreciated H.E. Hun Manet on the aspect that he is the first Cambodian person who has graduated from West Point University, and graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics in the United Kingdom.

3.H.E. Hun Manet gave a warm greeting and thanked the members of CHEA for contributing to the building of human resources and economic development through the education sector. He noted that this is the main factor for supporting the development of our country. He stressed the importance of building human resources, for a country cannot develop without good human resources. Private sector education has played vital roles in this regard, according H.E. Hun Manet. He raised two points in education which are intercon-nected, quantity and quality. He said that there has been a focus on quantity in education because we want all people who wish to continue their education to be able to do so. In this case, the government appealed for the private sector to invest in education. In addition, the private sector has helped students from poor families to study in higher education by providing scholarships. In this regard, he thanked CHEA for pro-viding scholarships, and to SPM and Samdach Kritibundith Bun Rany for their continued support. In terms of quality, he referred to the progress of Cambodia’s education system. He stated that without progress, the programs would never have true quality. Students need to change their mind-set and habits regarding learn-ing and values in education.