Day: March 18, 2024

Neighbouring Cambodia and Thailand have vowed to boost their economic growth through infrastructure, trade, investment and tourism connectivity.

The commitment was made by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and visiting H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, President of the Pheu Thai Party, during their bilateral talks at the 7th January Palace in Phnom Penh this afternoon, according to a press release of CPP issued tonight.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen shared with his guest Cambodia’s economic situation after the collapse of the Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge regime), peace seeking, transformation of the former battlefields into development zones and the border area into a border of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

H.E. Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been on a two-day (Mar. 18-19) visit to Cambodia at the invitation of Samdech Techo Hun Sen. This is part of the high-level visit exchange between the two ruling parties based on their friendship and
close cooperation.

‘The visit is also a contribution to promoting the cooperation of neighbouring countries, and the ‘strategic partnership’ announced during the official visit of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the Kingdom of Thailand in February 2024,’ said the press release.

Besides Samdech Techo Hun Sen, H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra paid separate courtesy calls on Samdech Vibol Sena Pheakdei Say Chhum, President of the Senate, and H.E. Kitti Setha Pundit Cheam Yeap, First Vice President of the National Assembly, and exchanged views with many CPP’s young leaders who are members of the Royal Government and Parliament, including H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, Member of the CPP’s Standing Committee and Minister of Civil Service.

The high-level delegation of Pheu Thai Party is scheduled to visit tomorrow the Choeung Ek Extermination Centre and the Win-Win Memorial in Phnom Penh to learn more about Cambodia’s recent history, especially the Win-Win
Policy that has brought peace, stability and development to Cambodia.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

The Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) has provided credit guarantees of US$174 million as of February this year to 2,070 businesses as their working capital for expansion.

In a factsheet issued on Monday, CGCC said as of Feb. 29, 2024, the outstanding guaranteed loan was US$120 million while the outstanding guaranteed amount was US$86.9 million.

There are 1,918 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and 152 large businesses in Cambodia, the report said, adding that 881 of businesses were women-owned.

The CGCC scheme involves 27 participating financial institutions (PFIs) to extend credit as working capital investment and business expansion to SMEs.

Established in November 2020 with a state budget of US$200 million, the CGCC is the preferred credit guarantee institution in Cambodia set up to improve financial inclusion and develop the growth of SMEs.

Smooth loan distribution has boosted entrepreneurship and financial inclusion, said H.E. Mey Vann, Secretary of State at the Ministry of
Economy and Finance.

‘The CGCC has played a key role in serving the needs of SMEs in Cambodia, which are struggling in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the inflation crisis, and need credits from banks for their businesses,’ he said.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

World Bank has approved US$35 million credit for road improvement to withstand climate change in three provinces in Cambodia, according to a press release issued last week.

The loan was approved on Mar. 15 by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors to support the Cambodia Road Connectivity Improvement Project (RCIP), which aims to improve climate resilient road access to markets, health services, and schools across Kratie, Kampong Cham, and Thbong Khmum provinces.

The three provinces have a population of over 2 million people, of whom 80 percent live in rural areas.

The RCIP channels investment to road networks in provinces that were identified by the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Report for Cambodia as extremely exposed to climate risks and that lagged with regard to pavement coverage and effective floodwater management.

The climate vulnerability of these road networks puts at risk access to critical services such as education and health care, with negative effects on the residents
of these provinces that accumulate over time.

Poor road conditions also raise transportation and logistics costs for critical agriculture products produced in the targeted provinces.

This additional financing will help pay for higher-than-anticipated project costs, mainly for road works contracts. High inflation and price increases of key inputs, including fuel and bitumen, over the past three years have resulted in higher costs than estimated in 2019 before the approval of the original project.

Further, additional climate resilience interventions identified by detailed survey works and engineering designs for the project roads have further increased financing needs.

Currently, road rehabilitation works have been underway across 130 kilometres of targeted national and provincial roads, and 142 kilometres out of 270 kilometres targeted rural roads.

‘Access to health and school facilities and moving goods to markets, in particular during the rainy season, has posed great challenges for Cambodian people in
rural areas,’ said Ms. Maryam Salim, World Bank Country Manager for Cambodia.

‘Also, poor road conditions, disruptions caused by floods, and high transportation costs are major impediments to access to health care and emergency care for expectant mothers,’ she said.

The project is also supporting the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Ministry of Rural Development, the two implementing agencies of the project, with critical institutional development.

This includes developing a resilient rural road financing strategy, supporting road safety improvements, supporting implementation of gender mainstreaming action plans, and managing performance-based contracts for road improvement and maintenance to improve infrastructure sustainability.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

The Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Thailand have highly valued their bilateral relations and cooperation which have reached the level of strategic partnership and provided mutual benefits to the two peoples and countries.

The appreciation was made by Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and visiting H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Deputy Chair of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee of Thailand and Leader of Pheu Thai Party, during their meeting here at the Peace Palace this afternoon.

Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet extended warm welcome to H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s visit and conveyed via her his greetings to H.E. Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand.

The Cambodian Premier briefed his guest on the fruitful outcomes of his official visit to Thailand last month, which contributed to the strengthening and expansion of relations between the two countries in many fields, including economy, trade, tourism, labour, and so on.

For
her part, H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed her strong hope that the relationship and cooperation between the two nations would be further fostered in other important areas, including the promotion of women’s role.

H.E. Paetongtarn Shinawatra is on a visit to Cambodia at the invitation of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Privy Council to His Majesty the King and President of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

The main aim of the visit is to exchange views on cooperation between the two neighbouring countries for the common interest of the two peoples and parties based on the close ties of friendship and cooperation between both parties.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

H.E. Kitti Setha Pundit Cheam Yeap, Acting President of the National Assembly (NA) of Cambodia, noted the good relationship between the Cambodian and Thai NAs, which regularly exchange their delegations in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks.

H.E. Kitti Setha Pundit Cheam Yeap, also Standing Member of the Central Committee of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), made the remarks while receiving visiting H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Leader of Pheu Thai Party at the Senate Palace here this morning, mentioning the visit of H.E. Wanmuhamadnoor Matha, President of the Thai NA, to Cambodia from Mar. 21 to 23, 2024.

The two parliaments also pay attention to the promotion of Young and Women Parliamentarian mechanism

within the national and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Framework, especially to the joint development and support for the promotion of digital parliaments, as well as for the initiative to establish the “AIPA Digital Law Library” for the benefit of the people of each countr
y and the people of the whole ASEAN region.

Besides, H.E. Kitti Setha Pundit Cheam Yeap praised the cooperation between Cambodia and Thailand in the framework of bilateral, regional and international cooperation, mainly in the areas of trade and tourism, which have gained remarkable momentum in recent years. The two countries should facilitate tourism corridors between the two countries, particularly promote the Two Kingdoms, One Destination mechanism, to double the momentum of tourism for the common good, he underlined.

Regarding inter-party relations, the CPP Central Committee’s standing member lauded the good cooperation between the CPP and the Pheu Thai Party in all forums, in particular within the framework of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP). In 2024, he continued, the Cambodian Parliament will host the 11th Plenary Session of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace (IPTP) while the CPP will host the 12th ICAPP General Assembly, and he hoped that the Thai NA
and Pheu Thai Party will support and participate, as well as send their high-level delegations to attend these two meetings.

For her part, H.E. Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra voiced her support to H.E. Kitti Setha Pundit Cheam Yeap’s remarks on the facilitation of tourism corridors between the two countries and the promotion of the Two Kingdoms, One Destination mechanism.

In addition, she briefed the Cambodian NA Acting President on the current situation in her country, and spoke highly of the existing good relations between the Pheu Thai Party and the CPP, stressing that this good relationship must be continued for a long time.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse