Cambodia has asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to further expand its investment in the water resources and meteorology sector to mitigate the negative impact of climate change on irrigation infrastructure and livelihoods.
The request was made by H.E. Thor Chetha, Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology, in a meeting with Ms. Jyotsana Varma, ADB Country Director for Cambodia, at the ministry on Oct. 26.
H.E. Thor Chetha also encouraged a joint effort to establish a long-term investment plan on water resources and meteorology for 2024–2039 against climate events, especially floods and droughts.
The minister spoke highly of the ADB’s contribution to the country’s economic growth, especially the cooperation on water resources management, stressing that the ADB has also helped the ministry modernise irrigation infrastructure.
Ms. Jyotsana Varma appreciated the collaboration between the ministry and ADB and pledged to financially and technically support the ministry’s water resource priorities, quality project implementation, and development of an operation and monitoring strategy.
Ongoing ADB-supported projects executed by the ministry include the Irrigated Agricultural Improvement Project (IAIP) and the Climate Friendly Agribusiness Value Chain Sector Project (CFACVS).
More projects in ADB’s pipeline to support the ministry are Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Climate Adaptive Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture for Resilience (CAISAR).
