The Republic of Korea (ROK) has reaffirmed its commitment to delivering extensive support to Cambodia as one of the highest priority countries.
The reaffirmation was made during a meeting between H.E. Chhieng Yanara, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CRDB/CDC) and H.E. Dr. Im Jeong Hee, Vice President of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) at the CDC’s office in Phnom Penh on Mar. 28.
On the occasion, H.E. Chhieng Yanara warmly welcomed H.E. Dr. Im Jeong Hee and expressed his appreciation to the strong partnership and support from the Government of Korea and its people which contribute to socio-economic development in Cambodia.
The CRDB/CDC secretary general also highly valued various KOICA’s grant aid projects, especially the provision of medical supplies to support the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC)’s effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia.
In addition, he informed the meeting about the Strategic Framework and Programmes for Economic Recovery in the context of living with COVID-19 in a new normal (2021-2023) which focuses on 3 main pillars: Recovery of Economic Growth; Reforming to build a solid foundation for growth, diversification and competitiveness; and Building Cambodia’s Resilience to ensure sustainable and inclusive development.
For his part, H.E. Dr. Im Jeong Hee said that Cambodia is the leading country in Southeast Asian culture, and has made a remarkable progress with great potential for development. In particular, Cambodia has fought through COVID-19 pandemic with great strength for the past 2 years.
“I’m highly impressed by the effort of the government keeping the pandemic in control, and I would also like to express my sincere gratitude for the safe operation of KOICA here in Cambodia,” said H.E. Dr. Im Jeong Hee.
At that time, H.E. Dr. Im Jeong Hee also mentioned that Cambodia is Korea’s main partner country ranking in the top of KOICA’s development support, and an important ODA partner country. KOICA will continue to support Cambodia as to achieve the RGC’s development goals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, KOICA has conducted diverse support activities as COVID-19 response through continuous cooperation with one another and KOICA hoped to strengthen the cooperation in the future to develop Cambodia post-COVID-19.
From 1991 until 2021, KOICA has provided approximately US$316 million for four significant priority areas such as Education, Transportation, Rural Development, Water Management and Health/Hygiene. Over the last decades, the amount of ODA provided by the Republic of Korea has increased significantly, and this grant aid is expected to increase in the future.
In conclusion, H.E. Chhieng Yanara reiterated his sincere appreciation to KOICA for the continued support to the socio-economic development in Cambodia, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic and wished H.E. Dr. Im Jeong Hee and the delegation succeeded in their mission in Cambodia.
