Aid and development

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission from Washington, D.C., headed by Sonali Jain-Chandra, visited Cambodia from July 6 to July 20, 2016 to conduct the annual Article IV staff discussions.   ...

China will provide Cambodia with more than half a billion dollars in aid, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday, less than a week after Cambodia again declined to support an Asean statement critical of Beijing’s claims to the hotly contested South China Sea. ...

In an attempt to deliver more accurate weather reporting in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has started building 30 additional weather stations throughout the country, according to officials. ...

A $9 million grant to promote government accountability in Cambodia and strengthen nongovernmental groups across the country was announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).   ...

A key donor to the Cambodian Human Rights Action Coalition (CHRAC) has suspended its funding, citing operational concerns even as other revenue sources are seemingly drying up for the organisation.   ...

Cambodia has asked the World Bank to assist in the development of the terms of reference for its planned National Logistics Committee, a move that is hoped to improve the transportation sector and reduce costs for exporters. ...

The Japanese Embassy granted $256,317 in development aid to Cambodia on Monday, to be used by the Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR Japan) to promote the educational inclusion of children with disabilities. ...

Japan will continue funding the National Election Committee (NEC) ahead of the upcoming commune and national elections, despite growing international concern over Cambodia’s deteriorating political climate. ...

The World Bank has officially revised the status of Cambodia’s economy, moving it up a rung from the low-income bracket into lower-middle income territory – a reclassification that economists expect will lead to a scale-back of foreign aid and preferential trade access over the coming ...

The United States has followed through on criticisms of the recent crackdown on the Cambodian opposition and civil society by linking its multimillion-dollar aid package for 2017 to improvements in human rights. ...

The ancient Silk Road sprawled across tens of thousands of kilometers, reaching east to west from Ja­pan to Venice and passing through five seas. Together, the road and maritime trade routes linked more than 40 countries throughout Asia, Europe and Africa, fostering early globalization.   ...

The European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) have agreed to provide a grant of €33.1 million to support the third phase of Cambodia’s Public Financial Management Reform Program, state news agency AKP announced Friday.   ...

Cambodia has appealed to Germany – a country renowned for its skilled technicians and engineers – to provide vocational training to support the Kingdom’s growing industrial sector, a Commerce Ministry official said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has received $30 million in funding from the Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low-Income Countries Program (SREP) – an arm of the global Climate Investment Funds initiative – for a solar energy development program that includes home systems, mini-grids ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday blithely brushed aside a recent threat from the European Parliament to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Cambodia over human rights abuses, challenging the body to follow through. ...

The government of Cambodia and the World Bank today signed agreements for four projects to improve road surfaces, manage fisheries, improve livelihoods from agriculture in targeted rural communities, and increase access to health care, with funding from the International Development Association, or IDA, the World ...

The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution accusing the Cambodian government of laying politically motivated charges against the opposition and calling for aid cuts if its respect for human rights fails to improve—a loud echo of a resolution it passed just six months ago. ...

One in every four children in Cambodia under the age of 5 has not had their birth registered, but a new program aims to tackle the problem at the commune level using mobile phone technology, according to UNICEF. ...

The Japanese government will continue providing scholarships to young Cambodian government officials wishing to study in Japan, continuing a tradition of bilateral scholarship that began in 2000, officials said yesterday. ...

About 80 U.S. troops are in Cambodia for Pacific Angel 2016, an annual humanitarian-aid mission that runs through June 18. ...

Cambodia’s large and growing debt to its northern ally China is a growing concern for observers who worry about the undue influence this may afford the regional superpower. ...

The U.S. accused the Cambodian government of scaling back the space for free speech and the World Bank of failing to learn from its mistakes in justifying its decision to abstain from a recent Bank vote that approved a sheaf of new loans to Cambodia. ...

The World Bank’s decision earlier this month to resume lending to Cambodia after a five-year moratorium has drawn criticism from development experts.   ...

The World Bank has approved $130 million in developmental aid aimed at reducing poverty in Cambodia, signalling its first direct re-engagement with the Kingdom since it left in protest in 2011 after one of the largest forceful evictions led by the government displaced more than ...