PHNOM PENH: Cambodia, represented by H.E. Mr. Vongsey Vissoth, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister and Permanent Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), and his delegation was welcomed on 29 March at the headquarters of the French Development Agency (AFD) in Paris.
AFD was represented by Marie-Hélène Loison, Deputy Director General of the Agency, and Mr. Cyrille Bellier, Director of the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Asia Department. This visit is part of the 6th annual meeting to discuss AFD’s strategic orientations in Cambodia.
The annual consultation was held at AFD’s Paris offices and brought together the various technical ministries and AFD’s partner public enterprises. It was an opportunity to recall the long-term partnership between Cambodia and AFD and define the activity portfolio’s main orientations for the coming years.
Through an agreement signed on this occasion, AFD reiterated its commitment to support the Kingdom’s transition by pledging to finance up to 400 million euros of projects in 2023-2024, prioritizing water, sanitation, agriculture, energy, and vocational training sectors.
AFD’s strategy in Cambodia for the coming years aims to support the country in its low-carbon transition, to make territories more resilient to climate change, to improve its regional integration and competitiveness, and to promote the blue economy and sustainable water management. This strategy responds to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and integrates cross-cutting issues such as innovation, gender, climate change, energy efficiency, and the “One Health” approach.
“On the year of celebration of the 30th anniversary of AFD in Cambodia, we are delighted to welcome our Cambodian partners to AFD headquarters. This objective of doubling our new commitment to Cambodia up to 400 M EUR for 2023-2024 reflects our long-standing partnership, with AFD responding to the priority sustainable development needs to be expressed by the Kingdom of Cambodia,” said Sandrine Boucher, Director of AFD in Cambodia.
“We are delighted to see AFD’s expanding operation in Cambodia. As we transition into another phase of socio-economic development, we see many more collaboration opportunities to address ongoing and future challenges. We are also pleased to note the alignment of our respective development strategies and sectoral priorities, especially in water and sanitation, agriculture, energy, and vocational training sectors.” said H.E. Vongsey Vissoth.
This reunion follows the meeting between Samdech Techo Hun Sen and President Macron in Paris and the visit to Cambodia of Rémy Rioux, AFD Chief Executive Officer, which was an opportunity to reaffirm the good relations maintained over the past thirty years between AFD and Cambodia.
Since its opening in 1993, AFD has financed 92 projects for a total of 927 million euros. Over the past five years, AFD’s sectoral portfolio has focused on water and sanitation 44%, agriculture 40%, energy 10%, and technical and vocational education and training 9%.
Photo by: Supplied
