By Sok Lak
A total US$54 million of loan and grant agreements on August 23rd signed by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, Minister of Economy and Finance and Suzuki Yasujiro, Chief Reprehensive of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), following the exchange notes between the Royal Government of Cambodia and Japan which signed on August 15th.
After signing ceremony, H.E. Keat Chhon, said that Japan is Cambodia’s largest aid donor. “Even though Japan faces many difficulties, but it still maintain its assistance to Cambodia which reflects the Japanese’s commitment to friendship and cooperation with Cambodia.
A loan agreement of US$53.3 million for West Tonle Sap Irrigation and Drainage Rehabilitation and Improvement Project is official development assistance (ODA) loan has 0.01 percent of annual interest rate with 40 years payment period and 10 years deferment period. The loan project will be used for the rehabilitation and construction of the irrigation in the targeted areas in West Tonle Sap region covering the province of Battambang, Pursat, and Kampong Chhang, Suzuki said. “This project is expected to contribute to the enhancement of agriculture income and living standard of farmer in these areas and the increase of rice production.”
“Japan will address the west Tonle Sap region covering 12,760 hectares of farmland irrigation with benefit to 8318 family live there,” H.E. Keat Chhon stressed.
This project also provide a stable supply of water for agriculture as well as establishing and strengthening Farmer Water User Communities and Groups, providing agricultural extension techniques to increase agricultural productivity and improving the livelihoods of farmers in the target areas. In the field of irrigation in Cambodia, JICA has provided assistance for irrigation facility rehabilitation projects in the past in the form of grants, and has also implemented technical cooperation projects with Technical Service Center of Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology as the counterpart agency, improving the organizational capacity of the center and supporting the training of center personnel and irrigation engineers. In the field of agriculture, JICA have been supported the technical assistance aiming for the improvement of agriculture extension.
A grant agreement of US$0.7 million for the project for the Improvement of Educational Equipment of the Department of Geo-resources and Geotechnical Engineering of the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) will support the equipment provision to the Department of Geo-resources and Geotechnical Engineering of ITC aiming at the improvement of the quality of the education service of this leading university with more emphasis on practices and experiments for stronger practical skills of the graduated. “This grant project will allow Cambodia open Geo-resources and Geotechnical Engineering class which benefit to training for future development in Cambodia,” H.E. Keat Chhon said.
Mr. Suzuki, said that Japan is now considering the further engagement in the support to Cambodia for the development of human resource for industry along with the development priorities of the National Strategy Development Plan (NSDP) in promoting trade and investment, development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and skills matching to the needs of the labor markets.
Source: The Southeast Asia Weekly, August 28-September 3, 2011, Vol. 5, Issue 35, Page 2
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