Cambodia and the European Union have been committed to further strengthen and enhance their cooperation in the future.
The commitment was made during a meeting between H.E. Chhieng Yanara, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, Secretary General of the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board of the Council for Development of Cambodia (CRDB/CDC) and H.E. Ms. Carmen Moreno, EU Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, at the Council’s office in Phnom Penh on Mar. 2.
On the occasion, H.E. Chhieng Yanara expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the European Union for providing development assistance to Cambodia, particularly the outstanding achievement made by the implementation of the Joint European Development Cooperation Strategy 2014-2020 and the Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) 2014-2020 which have strengthened partnerships and contributed to the sustainable and inclusive development in Cambodia.
H.E. Minister also expressed his sincere thanks to the European Union for providing substantial support to the Cambodian government in socio-economic recovery after the COVID-19 outbreak.
For her part, H.E. Ms. Carmen Moreno highly praised the RGC for its efforts and achievements in Cambodia’s development and also highly valued and appreciated CRDB/CDC for excellent cooperation and partnership. She informed H.E. Minister on the progress of the draft European Joint Strategies 2012-2027 and the new Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) of European 2021-2027.
According to a press release of CDC, the new Multiannual Indicative Programme was recently approved and adopted by the European Commission on Dec. 21, 2021. The budget for the first phase of implementation from 2021-20214 amounts to EUR 155 million, equivalent to US$ 172 million. The MIP is an operation tool between European Union and Cambodia to implement the Joint European Development Cooperation Strategy, and supported the three main priority areas including: Green growth and decent jobs (EUR 62 million), Education and skills development (EUR 48 million), and Good governance (EUR 37 million).
An additional package of EUR 8 million is set aside to support the preparation and implementation of various projects in the three priority areas. For the next phase of implementation from 2025-2017, the budget will be defined based on the evaluation of the first phase implementation.
Meanwhile, concerning the next phase implementation, H.E. Minister suggested the EU to provide support for digital economy development, which is one of the priorities for the Royal Government of Cambodia.
H.E. Ms. Ambassador also emphasised that the EU plans to propose a consultation meeting between CDC and EU and its member states in April to review and discuss the Joint European Development Cooperation Strategy 2021-2027.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press