China-Southeast Asia Partnership Workshop Held in Phnom Penh

Singapore, Singapore May 14, 2025 – On May 13, 2025, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, hosted the 2nd China-SEA Partnership Workshop. The event was organized by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Technical Education Development (SEAMEO TED) with the support of Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS). Approximately 150 participants, including government officials, educators, industry experts, and business leaders from China and nine Southeast Asian nations, attended the workshop to explore ways to integrate regional vocational education with Industry 4.0 technologies.

Dr. Songheang Ai, Director of SEAMEO Regional Centre for Technical Education Development, opened the ceremony with a welcome address, highlighting the significance of technical education for the region’s sustainable economic growth. Dr. ZHANG Xufeng, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Education of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, affirmed Guangxi’s commitment to enhancing vocational education cooperation with ASEAN countries and fostering a cross-border industry-education ecosystem for the digital age. Dr. Riam Chau Mai, Director of the Community and Industry Collaboration Division at the Ministry of Higher Education, stressed the importance of collaborative efforts to promote innovation and internationalization in Southeast Asia’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) through regional cooperation and digital transformation. H.E.Dr.Kopheng Vathana, Under Secretary of State at MoEYS, urged all nations to collaborate on advancing digital vocational education between ASEAN and China, and to jointly develop skilled technical personnel.

The workshop included various sharing sessions where representatives from 13 educational institutions across Brunei, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and Russia engaged in detailed discussions on three main topics: “Collaboration Between Industry and TVET Providers for Digital Skills Development,” “Adopting Industry 4.0 Technologies in TVET Training,” and “Utilizing Industry 4.0 Technologies in TVET Training.” They presented case studies, sharing their innovative approaches to technical education and offering diverse solutions for cultivating digital skills talent in the region, showcasing the dynamism and potential of regional technical education cooperation.

During the discussion segment, participants delved into the future of TVET and proposed several cooperative initiatives. Following this, 12 higher education and educational institutions signed Memoranda of Understanding on-site, focusing on areas such as faculty and student exchanges, joint curriculum creation, and technology transfer, to further strengthen regional TVET collaboration.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Laksasak Yangsaman, Director of the International Strategy and External Relations Division at the Office of Vocational Education Commission, emphasized the need for countries to establish long-term mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the workshop’s outcomes. Dr. Songheang Ai concluded that the workshop had created a valuable platform for regional vocational education cooperation and would lead to more practical projects in the future.