- Excellencies, Governors/Mayors of ASEAN Cities and Capitals; Dr. Secretary-General of United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC);
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, I am truly pleased to preside over the Opening Ceremony of the ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF) under the theme “Strengthening ASEAN Collaboration through Accelerating the Implementation of Smart, Resilient, and Sustainable Cities for Transformative and Inclusive Urban Living in the New Normal” and the Meeting of Governors/Mayors of ASEAN Capitals (MGMAC) under the theme “Promoting Comprehensive Cooperation for Smart, Resilient, and Sustainable Cities” which have been interrupted in the past two years, mainly due to COVID-19 pandemic.
I would like to express my appreciation for setting the most suitable themes in line with regional and global situations in the presence and future. As a matter of fact, cities are the hearts of countries and regions, a place for all kinds of activities: socio-economics, culture and politics. In this sense, the socio-economic development and the building of a strong, sustainable and inclusive community must begin with the building and connecting of smart, resilient and sustainable cities.
I am also pleased to see a significant progress of cooperation in building and connecting major cities within our ASEAN region. For instance, the AMF and MGMAC, that have been regularly organized, are fundamental mechanisms that allow ASEAN local governments to enhance relations, promote wider cooperation, particularly to share knowledge and experiences, and continue to strengthen solidarity and harmony among ASEAN cities and capitals.
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Cambodia, as the Rotating Chair of ASEAN, has set the theme “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together”, aiming to jointly address ASEAN’s challenges, as well as to strengthen globalization and promote the realization of the regional integration agenda under the ASEAN Vision 2025.
With a proactive spirit, Cambodia successfully hosted the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in November here at Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel & Residence with 101 outcome documents being adopted and noted. Particularly, ASEAN Leaders acknowledged the progress of the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, and has set a future direction for strengthening ASEAN connectivity post 2025 through the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on ASEAN Connectivity Post-2025 Agenda.
ASEAN Leaders also welcomed the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanization Forum Report, which will strengthen the knowledge on trends in sustainable urbanization across the ASEAN region, and link the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanization Strategy to the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. In this regard, I hope that the second discussion of this afternoon will provide good opportunities for all stakeholders to discuss on challenges and opportunities of sustainable urbanization within the ASEAN region.
In addition, the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN), established in 2018, has been making significant contributions to realizing the ASEAN Vision 2025, MPAC 2025 and Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan III and the commitment to realize the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the New Urban Agenda. This ASCN framework has promoted the implementation of the Smart City Action Plans (SCAPS) and facilitated the development of information technology platforms and investment tools for ASEAN smart cities, through exchanging knowledge and experiences, strengthening partnerships and bridging resource gap. In this spirit, as the Chair of ASEAN in 2022, I highly appreciate and welcome the expansion of membership to three additional cities of each ASEAN member from 2022 to 2025.
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
In the context that ASEAN and the world have been facing a series of challenges, building smart and green cities with the use of digital technology is the most accurate direction for the presence and future. Smart cities have great potentials in addressing common issues of urban planning in an innovative way, strengthening resilience to various risks, and especially improving the well-being and prosperity of the livelihoods of local people in a new normal. Furthermore, smart cities will become major poles for promoting stronger socio-economic, business, trade and investment activities, as well as providing job and business opportunities to the general population in countries and the entire ASEAN region.
To provide inputs for strengthening and promoting stronger ASEAN cooperation in building and connecting ASEAN cities towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient ASEAN community, may I share some personal recommendations as follows:
First. Ensuring peace, security, stability and prosperity is the main and most important foundation for building smart, resilient and sustainable cities;
Second. The most important goal of building a city or a country is to improve the living quality of the people in terms of well-being, prosperity and resilience. In the context of high uncertainties, ASEAN city and capital administrations need to focus on building smart cities, by taking into account the changing lifestyle in a new normal, the adaptionto demographic changes or any possible change that may occur in the presence and future;
Third. Building smart, resilient and sustainable cities requires participation of all stakeholders, including local governments, the private sector, development partners, national and international institutions, and especially the local people. In this regard, ASEAN city and capital administrations, which are directly close to the people, must promote local awareness and capacity to embrace digital technology, as well as focusing on the circular economy and green economy. At the same time, ASEAN city and capital administrations must also create conducive environment for businesses, trade and investment and solve existing problems affecting the daily lives of the people;
Fourth. Within the regional framework, all ASEAN city and capital administrations must work together to accelerate and expand the potentials of ASEAN smart cities connectivity and integration, by jointly promoting digitalization and digital transformation, which have high potentials in developing and connecting all sectors in countries and the region; and
Fifth. The gap in building smart cities in the region is likely to occur due to the growing trend in the digital technology gap. In this regard, the ASEAN city and capital administrations need to further promote a culture of exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences in building smart cities, in particular, building physical and digital infrastructure as well as ensuring security, stability and urban beauty through the effective management of clean water, electricity and waste. At the same time, I would like to recommend aligning efforts in designing and promoting the implementation of practical joint action plans such as SCAPS to ensure a true inclusiveness in the region. Taking this opportunity, I would also like to ask ASEAN local governments to support the “ASEAN Green Deal” which Cambodia has proposed as the ASEAN Chair in 2022, aiming to contribute to the building of greener ASEAN smart cities with more efficient uses of resources.
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I hope that the discussions on key topics today and tomorrow will achieve fruitful results, with active participations in exchanging views and experiences, which will be crucial inputs for setting the direction and strengthening bilateral, trilateral or multilateral cooperation in key sectors at the local levels.
Finally, I would like to wish the AMF and MGMAC to proceed smoothly and wish Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen and all Distinguished Guests the four Buddha blessings, namely Longevity, Nobility, Health and Strength.
I would like to announce the Opening of the ASEAN Mayors Forum and the Meeting of Governors/Mayors of ASEAN Capitals 2022 from now on.
Thank You!
