Dr. AUN Pornmoniroth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, and Ms. Sandrine BOUCHER, Director of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) in Cambodia signed a USD 20 million financing agreement to strengthen the climate resilience and sustainability of marine and coastal fisheries in Cambodia in the presence of His Excellency the Ambassador of France, Jacques PELLET.
The agreement reached by both parties will co-finance the Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries project with the Asian Development Bank.
The fisheries sector is an important component of the Cambodian economy, representing 8% to 10% of the country’s gross domestic product. Climate change and overfishing have led to a substantial decline in fish stocks, resulting in higher prices, with a direct impact on coastal communities and businesses.
The project aims to strengthen Cambodia’s maritime fisheries sector while preserving fish stocks and marine ecosystems. It supports the country’s four coastal provinces – Kampot, Kep, Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk – to help reverse the sharp decline in fishing, promote sustainable mariculture and redevelop fish landing sites to improve seafood safety. It is expected that as part of the project to accompany the development of more productive and sustainable enterprises.
The project will foster private sector development by enabling coastal communities and small businesses to diversify their livelihoods, adopt sustainable practices and sustain their operations.
AFD’s funding for the development of a sustainable marine fishery is part of our strategy to support the blue economy in Cambodia. Carried out as part of co-financing with the Asian Development Bank, this project opens a new area of collaboration within the privileged partnership between our two institutions. It is complementary to the action already undertaken by AFD and the European Union in the CapFish programme, in particular the strand on the development of fish farming (CaPFish-Aqua) stressed Ms. Sandrine BOUCHER, Director of AFD.
The French Development Agency (AFD) implements France’s development and international solidarity policy. Through its public sector and NGO funding activities, its research work and publications (Éditions AFD), training on sustainable development (Campus AFD) and awareness raising in France, it finances, supports and accelerates transitions to a more just and resilient world. AFD build shared solutions with partners, with and for the people of the South. AFD teams are involved in more than 4,000 projects on the ground, in the French Overseas Territories, in 115 countries and territories in crisis, for common goods – climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality, education and health. We thus contribute to the commitment of France and the French to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For a world in common.
Photo by: Supplied
