Multilateral development assistance

Countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region can save US$14 billion over the next 20 years if they integrate their power transmission systems, according to a senior official from the Asian Development Bank. A regional power grid connection would enable countries with hydro-power plants to export energy ...

A bribery investigation by the World Bank has discovered misconduct by a major Canadian construction firm that was awarded a $5 million contract to help expand access to electricity in rural Cambodia, the bank said. In December 2009, SNC-Lavalin announced that it has been awarded ...

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will call an e-auction on April 10 on work to renovate damaged tracks connecting Thailand with Cambodia at the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing, Transport Minister Chadchat Suttipan said on Tuesday. The railway agency estimated the project will cost 2.8 billion baht. ...

Eric Sidgwick, Country director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Cambodia applauded Cambodia for managing it’s, sometimes problematic, public debts. During the Wednesday meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Sok An, Eric Sidgwick said, good management led to the positive changes of donations and ...

The Asian Development Bank has refused to release a critical study on the impacts its $141.6 million railway project is having on thousands of Cambodian families because disclosure of the report could hurt its relationship with the government, an ADB spokeswoman said. Raising concerns about the ...

The Ministry of Commerce and bank officials announced yesterday that they will hold a meeting next month aimed at better facilitating rice millers’ access to credit. The move is part of the Asian Development Bank’s Climate Resilient Rice Commercialization Sector Development program to address food security ...

The U.N.’s expert on housing rights has cited the World Bank’s failure to help thousands of families evicted from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood as a prime example of why the bank needs to make human rights a focus of its land sector programs worldwide. At ...

A CPP lawmaker said yesterday the government has signed 13 payment guarantees to companies constructing coal-fired power plants and hydropower dams in the country, a move that an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official reiterated was risky for the country’s fiscal future. CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said ...

The government’s guaranteed bailout of major infrastructure projects, such as the future 400-megawatt hydropower dam in Stung Treng province, requires a thorough assessment of forecasted risks – a capacity which the government currently does not possess, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said yesterday. Speaking on ...

The government yesterday asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue to help Cambodia’s troubled railway rehabilitation project, which is in desperate need of more funding in order to complete the network’s northern line. Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong met with the ADB’s recently appointed country ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday signed up to provide 230 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia for six development projects, aiming at promoting inclusive growth and reducing poverty in Cambodia, according to the bank’s media statement. The financing agreements were inked between Eric Sidgwick, country ...

The government was to resume rail services between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Friday in collaboration with Toll Royal Co, Richz Electronic Services and the Asian Development Bank, sources said. ...

Cambodia’s modern railway system on Friday commenced commercial rail operations on the 256- kilometer”Southern Line” between the capital city of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Port. The launching was made after years of renovation with the financial support from the Asian Development Bank and development partners. “ADB ...

The World Bank has declined to say whether it will resume providing financial assistance to Cambodia, despite a bank official allegedly telling anti-eviction protesters last week that the organization planned to do so next year. In August 2011, World Bank country director for Southeast Asia Annette ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday unveiled its new three-year assistance plan of 525 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia in order to help the country reduce poverty, promote growth and mitigate climate change, the bank said. The plan for 2013-2015 marked the bank’s strategic focus ...

Battambang, Bavet, Neak Loeung and Poipet are among several towns that will benefit from a $37 million loan from the the first quarter of next year after funding was approved at the 18th Greater Mekong Sub Region (GMS) meeting in Nanning, China. The loan comes from ...

Ministers from the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) will review progress on the Regional Investment Framework (RIF) to boost implementation of the GMS Strategic Framework 2012-22, as they meet today and tomorrow for the 18th GMS Ministerial Conference in Nanning, People’s Republic of China (PRC). The ...

The government is beset with high-level corruption, a lack of transparency in public procurements, poor auditing practices and political interference in the country’s main anti-corruption body, a report produced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sent to the media yesterday states. In a 66-page report that ...

Discussions on restarting World Bank loans to Cambodia will not commence until after the 2013 elections, a bank official said yesterday. After a landmark freeze on loans announced in December 2010, a response to the forced evictions by the government of residents of the Boeung Kak ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is marking 20 years of operations in Cambodia with the release of a book today celebrating its achievements in the Kingdom. The 67-member ADB says that over 20 years it has given Cambodia $1.8 billion in loans, grants and technical assistance. ...

East Asian leaders will discuss how to address economic and financial disorder when they meet heads of the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Trade Organization next week, a source said Wednesday. The source, who asked not to be named, said the ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development have signed an agreement to support trade in emerging Asian countries under the ADB’s Trade Finance Program, according to a news release. The risk distribution agreement will support a projected incremental trade flow between ...

The Asian Development Bank is considering providing funds to a controversial 400 megawatt dam project in Laos that could have adverse impacts on the Mekong River in downstream Cambodia. Conservation group International Rivers wants the Lao government to pull the plug on the $1 billion Xe ...

Cambodia rose five places to rank 133rd out of 185 countries in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report released yesterday, with the bank attributing the rise for the most part to the successful launch of the country’s credit bureau. Compared to other countries in the ...