Bilateral development assistance

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on the Cambodian government to cancel a draft law that would strictly regulate NGOs and associations in the country, warning that its passage could cost Cambodia up to $700 million in development aid. ...

Backed by their government, Japanese firms are pressing ahead with plans to link the burgeoning industrial complexes that line a 1,700-kilometer economic corridor that runs from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to a massive new port being constructed in Dawei, Myanmar. ...

After initially dragging its feet, the Japanese government has agreed to take part in a massive industrial development project in Myanmar. The decision was clearly influenced by China’s active involvement in infrastructure development in the Mekong region, which also includes Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. ...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet the leaders of five South-east Asian countries in Tokyo on Saturday to adopt a new three-year development strategy for the Mekong region — a move that will rival China’s rising economic clout in Asia. The plan is likely to ...

Roads built with low-interest policy loans from South Korea have opened to traffic in Cambodia, the finance ministry said Monday. The roads near the Vietnamese border in the Southern part of Cambodia, are part of a broader infrastructure project undertaken by Phnom Penh to meet ...

AEON Mall, a subsidiary of Japan’s largest retailer AEON Group, recently launched its first shopping mall in Indonesia. The Japanese government has also decided to provide Overseas Development Assistance to the country. It includes renovation of aging signal equipments for the Myanmar railways. ...

Military police in Ratanakkiri province working with the NGO Wildlife Alliance confiscated 40 kg of bushmeat from two vendors at a Banlung City market Thursday morning but let the women go with a warning. ...

The governments of Sweden and Switzerland have pledged more than $15 million to the strengthening of sub-national governance in Cambodia from 2015 to 2017. ...

China’s growing influence in Laos, marked by expanded investment and trade, has led some international agencies to warn Laos about an unhealthy financial dependence on China.  Analysts say Laos is looking to balance China’s influence by drawing support from longstanding backer Vietnam as well as ...

Some 100,000 prospective patients could lose opportunity for eye care due to Australia scaling back its foreign aid budget. But as Fred Hollows and other Australian NGOs brace themselves for the cuts, the Australian government is forging ahead with a $40 million scheme to relocate ...

In its first annual review of efforts by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to make amends for the thousands of Cambodian families hurt by a railway project the lender is funding, the bank’s Compliance Review Panel said it was making progress on five of six ...

Korea will use its first Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the preservation and restoration of foreign cultural properties to restore ancient Cambodian temples. According to the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korea will invest $4 million in ODA to Preah ...

Cambodia on Monday inaugurated the Japan-funded Tsubasa Bridge across the Mekong River. The suspension bridge, built at a cost of ¥119.4 million, allows National Route 1 to cross the Mekong River. At 2,215 meters, it is the longest bridge in Cambodia. ...

Before the sun casts its light on the Neak Loeung ferry port every morning, commuters begin arriving in buses and cars, on motorbikes and horse-carts. At the crest of the riverbank, chains slung between concrete pillars bring them to a halt. And there, even before their ...

Cambodia inaugurated a 1.73-km Mekong River bridge, along with a 143-km road, here on Wednesday in a bid to boost economic development and reduce poverty in this far northeastern region. ...

The Japanese government on Monday awarded nearly US$230 million in grant aid and loans to Cambodia. The loans are for a city transmission and distribution system expansion project in Phnom Penh and improvement of National Road No. 5, linking Phnom Penh and the Thai border. ...

At the edge of a sand-filled Boeng Kak lake in Phnom Penh on Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen inaugurated the country’s newest—and largest—mosque, which was privately funded by a Dubai-based businessman at a cost of $2.9 million. ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday broke ground for the construction of a 174-kilometer national road No. 58 under Chinese financial support. Road No. 58 stretches from Banteay Meanchey province, which shares an international border with Thailand, to neighboring Uddor Meanchey province to the ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday returned from an international disaster management conference in Japan, where he secured a promise from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to help Cambodia with voter registration once new election laws come into effect, an official said. ...

The European Union yesterday pledged an additional €6 million to the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance Programme, as the 10-year plan, first implemented in 2010, entered its second phase of development. ...

The leaders of Japan and five Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River plan to craft a new strategy in July for Tokyo to contribute to sustainable development of the Mekong region beyond 2015, a senior Japanese official said Thursday. “Taking this opportunity from this ...

The European Union on Monday launched the second phase education capacity development project worth 11 million U.S. dollars in Cambodia, aiming at strengthening the skills of educators. ...

As Vietnam and Laos negotiate to enter a European Union trade agreement aimed at improving forestry governance, the EU – one of the world’s top timber importers – is urging Cambodia to join the scheme. ...

The European Union (EU) said this week that it has hired a pair of consultants to help the government design a system for compensating the thousands of families believed to have had their homes or farms illegally confiscated by the country’s private sugar plantations. ...