CCRS will organize a roundtable discussion on “Striving for ASEAN Community Vision 2045 (ACV 2045)” on 15 February 2024, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM at AmCam Exchange. H.E. Dr. Santo Darmosumarto, Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, and H.E. W. Patrick Murphy, US Ambassador to Cambodia will be the two eminent speakers at this event. The discussion will be moderated by H.E. Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS.
The ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision, which was noted by the Leaders during ASEAN Chairmanships of Cambodia and Indonesia in 2022 and 2023 respectively, calls for ASEAN to be responsive and better adapt to a fast and dramatically changing world. If ASEAN wishes to maintain its astute position as a wise council of regional cooperation beyond 2025, the ACV 2045 must see to it that ASEAN’s cognitive transformation and strategic adjustment must reinforce ASEAN strategic autonomy to act and respond with credibility amidst big powers strategic competition, as well as to endure the pressure exerted by them in the Indo-Pacific region. During this CCRS Roundtable, we will hear from the eminent Indonesian Ambassador presentation on how Indonesia and Cambodia could work together to achieve ACV 2045 goals. In addition, we will also hear the eminent US Ambassador to Cambodia speak about the US’ priorities for ASEAN.
*This roundtable is by-invitation only.
| Program | |
|---|---|
| 9:30 – 10:00 AM | Registration |
| 10:00 – 10:05 AM | Welcoming Remarks by Mr. Him Raksmey, Executive Director, CCRS |
| 10:05 – 10:10 AM | Group Photo |
| 10:10 – 10:20 AM | Presentation by H.E. Dr. Santo Darmosumarto, Ambassador of Indonesia to Cambodia on Indonesia-Cambodia Relations: Striving for ASEAN Community Vision 2045 |
| 10:20 – 10:30 AM | Presentation by H.E. Mr. Patrick Murphy, Ambassador of the United States of America to Cambodia on US Priorities for ASEAN |
| 10:30 – 11:30 AM | Panel Discussion with the two distinguished Ambassadors,moderated by Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS |
| 11:30 – 12:00 PM | Refreshment |
About Our Eminent Speakers:
H.E. W. Patrick Murphy was appointed as Ambassador to Cambodia on August 8, 2019. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he led the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2018-2019 as Senior Bureau Official (Acting Assistant Secretary of State). He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia from 2016-2018. Ambassador Murphy served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires in the Kingdoms of Thailand (2013-2016) and Lesotho (2006-2008). Since joining the Foreign Service in 1992, he has also completed diplomatic assignments abroad in Burma (Myanmar), China, Iraq, Guinea, and Mali. His prior Washington service at the Department of State includes Special Representative for Burma (Acting), Director and Deputy Director of the Office for Mainland Southeast Asia, political advisor for the Haiti Working Group, and desk officer for Burma and Laos. Ambassador Murphy was a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. He received an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), an M.S. from the National War College (distinguished graduate), and a B.A. from the University of Vermont. He also studied at the Institut Européen des Hautes Études Internationales in Nice, France. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Murphy was a resource economist for the World Wildlife Fund and a policy analyst for the Overseas Development Council. His foreign languages include French, Burmese, Cantonese, and Spanish.
H.E. Dr. Santo Darmosumarto, began his diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2001. Since then, Dr. Darmosumarto has served twice at the Embassy of Indonesia in Beijing. He has also taken up positions as Assistant Special Advisor for International Affairs to the President of Indonesia in 2010-2014 and as Head of the Media Section at the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2018-2019. Prior to his move to Phnom Penh, Dr. Darmosumarto served as Director of East Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for four years. Dr. Darmosumarto obtained his doctoral degree from Monash University (Australia), focusing his research on Chinese foreign policy towards Southeast Asia. He also has degrees from University of British Columbia and University of Victoria (Canada).
Ambassador Pou Sothirak is a retired academic currently serving as the Distinguished Senior Advisor to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS). He was the Executive Director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace from May 2013 to August 2023. He was appointed as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia from September 2013 to January 2014. He was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of the Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore from January 2009 to December 2012. He also served as Cambodian Ambassador to Japan from April 2005 to November 2008. He was elected Cambodian Member of Parliaments twice during the national general election in 1993 and 2003. He was appointed as Minister of Industry Mines and Energy of the Royal Government of Cambodia from 1993 to 1998. He has written extensively on various issues concerning the development of Cambodia and the region.