Details

Background

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Cambodia has been cooperating since 2010 with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Information on a project encouraging the strengthening of the provincial administrations’ public relations with their constituents and the press. The Foundation has hereby realised a significant contribution to the decentralisation and democratisation processes in Cambodia.

As part of this project, training was offered to the spokespersons of Phnom Penh and of the twenty-three Cambodian provincial administrations, as well as to the vice-governors responsible for the communication and information, and to a number of elected local politicians. Among others, the participants to the programme learnt the theory and practice of drafting press releases, organising press conferences, developing a communication plan, and efficiently interacting with members of the press.

Concluding this endeavour, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation is organising with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Information the “Competition for More Transparent and Citizen-Friendly Provincial Governments”. The special administrative area of Phnom Penh and the twenty-three provinces have been invited to take part in it. The winners will be offered the opportunity of a Study trip to Germany. The aim is thereby to give the authorities in Phnom Penh and the different provinces incentives to improve their public relations and communication in the interest of the citizenry.

Aim Of The Study Trip

The information policy of the public administration in Cambodia is still largely underdeveloped. The idea that the citizenry has a right for comprehensive information on the part of the national, regional, and local authorities is only slowly starting to establish itself. The majority of the press offices in Cambodia still limit themselves to having a reactive approach of their work. A pro-active diffusion of information is still not common practice. The mains objectives of the Study trip are therefore:

•To clarify that government bodies at all levels have the duty to actively communicate on their activities.

•To provide an insight into the everyday work of spokespersons at different government levels (municipal, regional, and national).

•To highlight the crucial role and responsibilities that press offices hold, and thereby to reassert the value attached to their work in Cambodia.

Participants to this study trip will in addition receive an introduction to the political history and construction of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the opportunity to visit places of interest and sights in Berlin and its surroundings.

Participants to the Study trip

•Nine representatives drawn from the three provinces laureates of the Competition (the vice- governors (Spokespersons of the Provincial Government) and relevant

persons in charge of public relations in each province, along with the provinces’ spokesmen and spokeswomen and, if applicable, their information officers).

•A representative of the Ministry of Interior.

•A representative of the Ministry of Information.

•Up to three representatives of KAS Cambodia.

Programme (see attached)

The programme of the Study trip will focus on exchanges between the Cambodian delegation and their counterparts in the German press offices. These interactions should be held, as much as possible, at all governmental levels. They will include, for instance:

•The visit of a district level Press Office in Berlin;

•The participation in a press conference by a district government of Berlin;

•A discussion with a District Mayor of Berlin on the meaning of the press relations work;

•A visit of the Press Office of the Senate in Berlin, or of the Press Office of the Provincial Government in Potsdam;

•The attendance to a press conference by the Federal Government;

•Discussions with members of district councils, of the Senate in Berlin, or of the Provincial Government in Potsdam;

•A discussion with the Spokesperson or PR Team of the German CDU Party;

•A discussion with the Spokesperson of KAS Germany and with the head of the Team Asia and the Pacific/EIZ

Other activities will include

•A short overview of the history of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1945;

•A presentation on the construction of the Federal Republic of Germany (federalism and local self-governance);

•A presentation on the role of local media and their relationship with the local administrations and governments in Germany, and their contribution to the

development of democracy;