Kao Kim Hourn

Kao Kim Hourn (កៅ គឹមហួន ; born 28 May 1966) is the current Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

His family was granted refugee status in 1981, and eventually relocated to Herndon, Virginia.

There, Kao enrolled in high school.

He was 16 years old at the time and had very little educational experience and no English training.

However, he was quite successful and graduated with a high school diploma with scholastic excellence three years later, in 1985.

He then attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he did his B.A. in Asian Studies He received a National Fellowship Scholarship to Ohio University in Athens for his master's degree program.

And in 1991, he graduated with two master's degrees - one in Political Science and the other in International Affairs.

Additionally, he holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu.

After being educated in the United States, Kao returned to Cambodia in 1993, and has been involved in Cambodian public service and think tanks.

He was appointed as director of the Khmer International Relations Institute, and held that office from 1993 to 1994.

During his time as director, he developed the Cambodia Public Accountability and Transparency project (CPAT) with funding support from the Asia Foundation.

The project, one of the first counter-corruption projects in the nation, did not receive sufficient funding, and thus could not produce significant results.

The project was later transformed into the Center for Social Development (CSD) when Kao became Director of the think-tank, the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP), launched earlier by His Royal Highness Prince Norodom Sirivudh in cooperation with the German Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (Phnom Phenh Post 09. September 1994).

Kao served as Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Royal Government of Cambodia from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2001 to 2004 with the rank of Undersecretary of State.

He played an integral role in Cambodia's entrance into ASEAN in 1999, and has served as Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2001 to 2003 and as Secretary of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2004-2013.

The CICP helped support Cambodia in becoming a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1999, the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies and the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP) during Kao's tenure.

He has published many books on ASEAN and Cambodian-ASEAN relations, and gained significant experience in ASEAN through the activities of the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies.

His time at CICP also involved significant interactions with the Royal Government of Cambodia, as an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

He also became a member of the Supreme National Economic Council with the rank of minister when SNEC was founded in 1999 and has been a member since then.

Kao also founded The University of Cambodia (UC) in 2003, which became a top-ranking Cambodian university under his tenure as President.

He has since helped to found two think tanks: the Asia Economic Forum, and the Asian Faiths Development Dialogue.

In addition, he also helped to found the South East Asia Television network and radio station, known as SEATV and Radio.

In 2003, Kao founded The University of Cambodia (UC).

Kao was inspired to create a Cambodian higher education institution modeled in a similar way to the United States that focuses on developing students' critical thinking and problem solving skills.

He now serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The University of Cambodia has also established two think-tanks under the leadership of Kao: the Asia Economic Forum (AEF) and the Asia Faiths Development Dialogue both of which fall under the umbrella of the university.

Kao worked as CICP's first executive director for 10 years, until 2004, though he has remained as a Member of the Board of Directors.

He received an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Public Service from Ohio University in 2007, as well as another Honorary Doctoral Degree in Literature from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT University) of India in 2014.

In June 2023, Kao was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Political Science from Busan University of Foreign Studies, South Korea.

He was also conferred the honorary title of Guest Professor by Zhengzhou University in recognition of his achievements in the field of political science and international affairs in October 2023.

He previously served two terms as Minister Delegate attached to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia (2013-2022) and two terms as Secretary of State of Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2003-2013).

Dr. Kao, his formal Cambodian name, is a Member of the Supreme National Economic Council, Senior Fellow at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia, and a Member of the Global Council of The Asia Society.

In 2014, Kao founded the Techo Sen School of Government and International Relations at The University of Cambodia, providing training for administrators, policy makers, and young leaders.

In 2015, he founded the College of Media and Communications at The University of Cambodia to promote journalism and communications education, and provide students with hands on training at Southeast Asia Television (SEATV) and Radio (FM 106).

In 2018, He also founded the School of Foreign Languages, which offers full degrees in English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and French and provides short courses in Thai and German.

Additionally, he established the School of Creative Arts, aimed to preserve and celebrate Cambodia's rich history of art, song, and dance.

In August 2022, Kao was appointed as the next Secretary-General of ASEAN at the plenary session of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and in November 2022 at the ASEAN Summit, all ASEAN leaders supported his appointment.

He is the first Cambodian citizen to hold this position since Cambodia joined ASEAN.

After the Cambodian Civil War, the Khmer Rouge seized power and committed the Cambodian genocide.

Kao received very little formal education during his childhood due to the unstable and violent conditions in Cambodia at the time.