The German ambassador, Joachim Baron von Marschall, signed an agreement with the permanent Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon yesterday for €47 million ($64 million) in aid.

The grant will be used for developing projects within the ministries of health, rural development and women’s affairs.

Roughly €20 million will be allocated to a program that aims to give better access to health services through policy development.

Some €19.6 million will be used for rural development projects, including infrastructure planning and land rights management.

While projects fostering access to justice for women and administration decentralisation at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs will receive around €3.8 million.

The remaining money is to be used for further study across all areas.

“I believe that the partnership between Cambodia and Germany will be stronger and stronger in the future,” Chhon said at the signing held at the Council for the Development of Cambodia yesterday.

According to Von Marschall, Germany has provided somewhere in the region of half a billion dollars in aid to Cambodia since the early 1990s. This figure would be greater if it included contributions through the EU he added.