Cambodian PM Appeals ASEAN FMs to Consider ASEAN Green Deal

Cambodia has called on all ASEAN Foreign Ministers who gather here for the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings, which officially kicked off this morning to consider the establishment of ASEAN Green Deal.

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Chair of ASEAN, said his opening remarks that this is an attempt to tackle the existential threat that climate change and environmental degradation can pose to the region and the world. ASEAN has been putting out so far various policy solutions, but the responses remain sector specific and uncoordinated. ASEAN needs to go further by leveraging different national conditions to provide a platform for cooperation among member states as well as with the external partners.

“It would be good if ASEAN can consider establishing an overarching framework, an initiative that I would label an ASEAN Green Deal, that enables our region to make a gradual transition toward a green future that is sustainable, resource-efficient, resilient and competitive economy,” he stressed.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen said this would cover a wide range of areas such as infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, consumption, agriculture, transport, environment, and finance, with technology, innovation and circularity being the enabling factors.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press