Traffic road on National Road 4 in Preah Sihanouk province on January 19. Heng Chivoan
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has begun prioritising co-operation work directly with the US Department of Transportation.
Senior officials said that this is the first time the US has asked for dialogue and direct cooperation in the sector.
Ministry undersecretary of state Vasim Sorya told The Post that in the past, transport operations have been carried out within both the ASEAN and the US-affiliated Lower Mekong Initiative frameworks, as well as through regional, multilateral or tripartite cooperation. Cambodia has taken part in regional projects which include Asia and South Asia, the ASEAN Regional Framework, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand group.
“This is a new mechanism through which we will deal directly with the US,” he said.
Sorya is also chairman of the Steering and Coordination Committee that works with the US department. He chaired the first meeting of a commission to review the objectives, priority areas and implementation plans for further cooperation.
He has asked each of the ministry’s departments to determine their objectives and priority areas for cooperation. The public works department will prepare a project proposal document, which will be submitted to the US department ahead of an upcoming meeting.
Sorya did not specify a timeline, but said nine or 10 priorities had been identified, ranging from road safety to border trade facilitation to environmental sustainability.
“This is a new framework. Because of the Covid-19 situation, we have not been in contact for a long time. They [US department] have asked us to formulate a proposal and set priorities for talks with the US. Most of them relate to technical assistance and improving the Kingdom’s infrastructure resilience,” he added.
“For us, this is special, as the US has never worked directly with our ministry. We have never done this, so we must be well prepared,” he continued.
Cambodia Logistics Association (CLA) president Sin Chanthy said that as a member of the private transport sector, he supported the initiative, believing it could pave to way to new progress.
He added that among Cambodia’s many export destinations, the US has the highest potential.
“The fact that the government, and the transport ministry, will work directly with the US is excellent news. Working closely with the US will enable us to benefit directly from their experience,” he said.
