Civil Service System and Civil Service Reform in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea is the second development to the first book, Public Administration and Public Governance in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea, which served as a milestone for understanding the rising economic significance of ASEAN nations in the world market. First published in 2009, the first book entitled Public Administration and Public Governance in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea offers a collection of essays and comparative studies that provide an insightful introduction to public administration and public governance in ASEAN countries, including socio-political perspectives(historical development, government, structure, and society); the current status of public administration and public governance(the central government, local governments, civil service, public management, etc.); major issues and challenges to public sector reforms in recent years(public administration and education programs, research, and professional associations in public administration); and newly demanding tasks as well as future reform plans.
This book is a new collection of manuscripts on civil service prepared by leading experts in the ASEAN member countries. The term civil service generally refers to governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit and political neutrality as proven by competitive civil service entrance examinations. The term explicitly excludes the armed services and the scope of civil servants varies from country to country. Over the years, after a wide range of public sector reform around the world, significant civil service reform took place in ASEAN member countries with substantial variations among each country. Since civil service is every country’s basic foundation of governmental operation, its innovation is not optional in order to cope with new challenges in the public sector. Almost every country is initiating some sort of reform measures around the world. Such reform efforts could affect each country’s public management and overall performance of the government. Accordingly, this book reviews civil service systems and civil service reforms in ASEAN member countries.
There are five original ASEAN member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei joined ASEAN on January 1984, Viet Nam on July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on July 1997, and Cambodia on April 1999. ASEAN was first conceived to reconcile countries that were in dispute with each other. Later, the countries sought the benefit of acting jointly and strengthening the association with main objectives including the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, and cultural development among its members, the promotion of regional peace, and promoting active collaboration and mutual assistance to promote Southeast Asian studies. This book intends to generate more discussion on general public administration, the civil service system and civil service reforms of the ASEAN member countries and ROK.
During global economic stagnation around the world, many Asian countries maintained substantial growth rates in the period from 1965 to 1990. The explanations for these high rates of growth vary. There is a general agreement that high savings have permitted very high levels of investment in the ASEAN economies. There are limited consensusesabout the exact reasons for this fast growth and the role government and public administration has played in the ASEAN economic progress. Undoubtedly, the development of effective policies for education and training, improved governance and the creation of a skilled workforce have playeda crucial role in these economies. For example, a World Bank report on Singapore commented: The phenomenal development of Singapore has taken place despite the lack of natural resources and the absence of a large domestic market. This remarkable success has been attributed largely to sensible and effective policies and the early attention paid to Singapore’s infrastructure and manpower resources(Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, 1992).
ASEAN-ROK regional collaboration on information technology, human resources development, cultural exchanges, medical assistance and Mekong Basin development cooperation was established in November 1989. Korea became the full dialogue partner of ASEAN in mid-1991 and elevated to a summit level in 1997. The importance of development cooperation between ASEAN and Korea was driven by the deepening interdependence between the two economies, which are expected to grow in importance in the coming years. Since then, ASEAN-ROK development cooperation has been expanded to cover areas of trade, investment, tourism, science and technology, and the environment. Cooperation in the areas of human resource development, people-to-people exchange and bridging the development gap has been given due attention.
This book focuses on the civil service system and civil service reforms in ASEAN countries and ROK. Many of the ideas presented in this book were discussed at the International Seminar on Civil Service System and Civil Service Reforms in ASEAN Member Countries and ROK held in Seoul, South Korea from May 23-26, 2010. Experts from ASEAN countries and ROK gathered to discuss and share experiences of their country’s civil service system and civil service reforms. The forums held in 2008 and 2009 resulted in the publication of the first book. In addition to the articles submitted by scholars, this book includes an ASEAN countries and ROK civil service system and reforms comparison table that gives more summarized concrete data on each country’s civil service system.
It is expected that the ASEAN-ROK public management forum will serve as a stimulating dialogue among scholars and practitioners in the field of public administration in the ASEAN member countries and the Republic of Korea. It will also provide a useful resource for public administration scholars and practitioners to better understand the achievements made in ASEAN member countries and the prospects of further development in the future.
I hope that through such meetings and collaborations, a series of publications and dialogues on public affairs can be sustainably developed that will also serve as a learning mechanism between ASEAN member countries and ROK as well as the rest of the world. Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to all the participants of the seminar for their active participation and dedication to the seminar and the publication of this book. I would like to thank Mr. Thongphane Savanphet and Ms. Carla Budiarto in the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta for their continuous support. Last but not least, many thanks go to the ASEAN Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Republic of Korea. Especially, I would like to acknowledge that the ROK-ASEAN Development Cooperation Program was very helpful in supporting the forum and its related projects.
Pan Suk Kim