CIL was honoured to host the Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn, who delivered the CIL ASEAN Distinguished Lecture on 4 August 2025 on the topic "ASEAN: A Bright Spot in a Darkening World". Secretary-General Kao was welcomed by Chair of the CIL International Advisory Panel Professor Tommy Koh and Chair of the CIL Governing Board Ambassador Rena Lee. The lecture was chaired by Ambassador Ong Keng Yong and attended by 130 guests including policy makers from Singapore, ASEAN and Timor Leste, members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the academia from ASEAN and the private sector. The lecture was held in conjunction with the 7th CIL ASEAN Law and Policy Academy. The transcript of Sec-Gen Kao's lecture can be accessed at https://asean.org/secretary-general-of-asean-delivers-cil-asean-distinguished-lecture-in-singapore/
The annual CIL-NUS ASEAN Distinguished Lecture will be delivered in 2025 by the ASEAN Secretary-General, His Excellency Dr Kao Kim Hourn and moderated by Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, who is also a member of the CIL Governing Board. Limited seats are available by public registration.
Introduction
With conflicts taking place in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the world is becoming volatile. While the Indo-Pacific remains relatively stable, disputes exist, and hot spots persist. Military confrontation could erupt anytime.
But in a world that is getting darker, a beacon of light remains -- ASEAN. For almost six decades since it was founded, ASEAN has kept the peace in Southeast Asia. It has also contributed to the stability of the Indo-Pacific region. By providing platforms through the ASEAN-led mechanisms where regional and global powers engage each other, it has enabled diplomacy and strategic dialogue instead of conflict to flourish. Through ASEAN, strategic trust deficit is arrested.
ASEAN’s light has remained attractive for regional states and countries from around the world. External parties continue to request for accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), whose High Contracting Parties now total to 57 and more are applying to join the TAC. Also, an increasing number of external partners are applying to become formal partners of ASEAN. Meanwhile, following the elevation of certain strategic partnerships to Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships, there is also an increasing number of ASEAN’s partners which would want to be accorded the status of a Comprehensive Strategic Partner.
More recently, amidst the increasing geo-political tensions and geo-economic competition, ASEAN has adopted the ASEAN 2045: Our Future, its 20-year vision along with four Strategic Plans: the ASEAN Political-Security Community Strategic Plan, ASEAN Economic Community Strategic Plan, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Strategic Plan, and ASEAN Connectivity Strategic Plan. Notwithstanding the turbulence the world is experiencing in recent years, ASEAN has quietly but steadily worked on its new vision towards a stronger ASEAN Community that is resilient, innovative, dynamic, and people-centred.
About Secretary-General Dr Kao:
Dr. Kao Kim Hourn’s career has focused on strengthening Cambodia’s international relations, particularly in ASEAN, driving policy advocacy and promoting research, education, and development. Dr. Kao had served as a two-term Minister Delegate attached to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, from 2013 to 2022. He has authored dozens of books and articles on Cambodia and ASEAN.
Dr. Kao is a Member of the Supreme National Economic Council, a Senior Fellow at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia, and a Member of the Global Council of The Asia Society. He serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace and the Worldwide Support for Development.
With the mission of providing education to the disadvantaged Cambodian youths, Dr. Kao established The University of Cambodia in 2003 and continued to serve as the university president until he stepped down in October 2022.
For his services to Cambodia, Dr. Kao received the Royal Order of Cambodia, the Royal Order of Sowathara, and the Grand Order of National Merit, among others. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Ohio University in the United States, in 2007, and an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in India, in 2014. In addition, Dr. Kao received an Honorary Doctorate in Political Science from the Busan University of Foreign Studies, in the Republic of Korea, in June 2023, in recognition of his work and contribution to ASEAN. In recognition of Dr. Kao’s achievements in the field of political science and international affairs, he was conferred the Honorary Title of “Guest Professor” by Zhengzhou University, in Henan Province, the People’s Republic of China, on 15 October 2023. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn was conferred an Honourable Member of the International Advisory Board of the Institute of ASEAN Studies at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, on 2 November 2023. Most recently, Dr. Kao was conferred the title of “Specially Invited Professor” by Hiroshima University, Japan, on 21 May 2024.
Dr. Kao started his career with the work in the think tanks in Cambodia, dedicated to ASEAN and international affairs, after his return from his studies in the United States, in January 1993. He later joined the Royal Government of Cambodia where he had served, from August 2001 to August 2013, in a variety of capacities, including a post as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, for two terms, from 2004 to 2013.
Dr. Kao completed Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Baylor University, Master of Arts in Political Science and Master of Arts in International Studies from Ohio University, and Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
He is married with two adult children who live in Phnom Penh.