The Asian Development Bank will loan Cambodia $64 million for two projects covering irrigation upgrades and malaria control, according to an ADB statement released yesterday.

The agreements were signed by Cambodia’s Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Porn Moniroth and the ABD’s Cambodia resident mission officer-in-charge Jan Hansen.

The bulk of the cash, $60 million, will flow to the Uplands Irrigation and Water Resources Management Sector Project, an initiative to rehabilitate, modernise and climate-proof irrigation systems in Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces.

Within six years, the project plans to double total cultivated area for wet and dry seasons to 29,500 hectares and increase the efficiency of three irrigation systems by 100 per cent.

The remaining $4 million will provide additional financing for Second Greater Mekong Subregion Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project.

With a focus on border regions, the project aims to strengthen national malaria programs and expand the regional malaria surveillance and response system.