H.E. Ambassador Yeap Samnang was born on 1 December 1979 in Pursat Province of Cambodia. He is currently the Director-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia. He also sits as the Representative of Cambodia to the Advisory Board (AB) of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR).
Prior to his current post, he was the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to ASEAN from 2018 to 2022, Deputy Director-General for ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) and for Community and Corporate Affairs (CCA) from 2016 to 2019 at the General-Department of ASEAN (ASEAN-Cambodia), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia (MFA.IC). He has been appointed ? among others ? as Deputy Director, Head of Division of Administration and ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation at ASEAN-Cambodia (2015-2016); First Secretary at the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to the Republic of Indonesia and Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to ASEAN in Jakarta (2011-2015); and Deputy Director, Head of Division of ASEAN Political Cooperation at ASEAN-Cambodia (2010-2011). Before joining the MFA.IC in December 2004, he had been serving as a Desk Official at Bureau of Legislation and Copyrights at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia from 2002.
Besides, Ambassador Samnang has also working background with NGOs/SCOs, teams of students, youth activities and a researcher in Cambodia. He is awarded with a Master Degree of Social (M.Sos) in Diplomacy from Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy in Jakarta, Indonesia, and a Diploma of High-Ranking Civil Servants, majoring in Diplomacy, from the Royal School of Administration in Phnom Penh. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Public Law from the Royal University of Law and Economics, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
He was decorated the Royal Order of the Kingdom of Cambodia in Commander in 2018.