The French Development Agency (AFD) has announced its continued support for poverty alleviation, improved social welfare and the economic growth of developing nations, including Cambodia. The agency said it would do so through a focus on climate change and green financing, in line with the content of the Paris agreement.
A June 7 press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance detailed a June 6 meeting between AFD chairman of the board Philippe Le Houerou and Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth, which took place at ministry headquarters.
“The AFD will maintain financial cooperation on existing priority sectors, in line with Cambodia’s policy and national development strategy and AFD country strategy 2022-2026. There will be a focus on three main goals, including climate change adaption development and carbon emission reduction, job creation and economic growth, and sustainable infrastructure development and governance,” it quoted Le Houerou as saying.
Pornmoniroth said that as a key development partner, the AFD had provided financing, credits, concessions, technical assistance and grants to the Kingdom. The assistance was centred around agriculture, health, culture, the environment, microfinance, tourism, clean water access, education and energy.
He noted that Cambodia has made stringent efforts to reform all sectors and laid out strategies to attract investors.
“Cambodia had introduced new investment and state-private sector partnership laws – as well as the Cambodia Digital Economy and Society Policy Framework 2021-2035 – in order to accelerate the restoration of the national economy,” he said.
“We have also introduced several other important policies, such as fiscal policy which encourages the use of environmentally friendly vehicles, the National Energy Efficiency Policy 2022-2030, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Strategy 2022-2026,” he added.
The minister said the French government has continued to strengthen and develop bilateral financial cooperation, noting the expertise it recently shared with the ministry in the area public financial management reform programmes and the Budget System Reform Strategy 2018-2025.
“We have drawn up necessary plans, mechanisms and technical tools for supporting the building and strengthening of state institutions and the capacity of officials, in order to achieve our vision of bringing Cambodian public financial management systems in line with international best practices,” he added.
