Permanent Representative

As of 2025, His Excellency HENG Sarith, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, serves as the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Cambodia to ASEAN. Prior to his current post, he was Deputy Director-General at the General Department of ASEAN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC).

The ASEAN Charter provides for the establishment of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), which shall be constituted by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States at the rank of Ambassadors based in Jakarta. The Chairmanship of the Committee is in line with the annual rotation of ASEAN Chairmanship.

The CPR’s tasks may generally be categorized as follows:

• Monitoring and implementing Leaders’ decisions;
• Coordinating cross-pillar issues;
• Strengthening relations with ASEAN’s external partners; and
• Providing substantive and administrative direction and support to the ASEAN Secretariat.

Besides his role as the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to ASEAN, he is also the Representative of Cambodia and member of:

• Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force;
• ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC);
• Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation;
• Governing Council of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation; and
• Joint Council of ASEAN-China Centre in Beijing.