Cambodia seeks Japanese assistance for three additional projects related to water resources development and meteorology

 Cambodia asked Japan to assist in three more projects to promote the water resources and meteorology sector in the country.

The request was made when H.E Thor Chetha, Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology met with H.E UENO Atsushi, Ambassador of Japan to Cambodia and Mr. SANUI Kazumasa, President of JICA in Cambodia at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology on September 4th 2023.

H.E Thor Chetha thanked the Government of Japan for its good cooperation in the past and recalled that since 1993 through the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Japan has supported the management and development of the water resources sector through grants, technical assistance projects, technical assistance for local and international training, and concessional financing projects.

With the cooperation between Cambodia and Japan, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology is in the process of implementing the National Irrigation Standards Development Project, which started in 2022 and will complete in 2024, and the Irrigation Rehabilitation Project of Southwest of Phnom Penh, which started in 2023 and due to be completed in 2026.

The Japanese side also requested the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation project of Phnom Penh Southwest Irrigation System to show the new achievements of cooperation between Cambodia and Japan in the years of the Royal Government of Cambodia of the 7th legislature of the National Assembly.

The two sides have expressed their high commitment to further enhancing cooperation in the field of water resources to make the sector more prosperous for the present and future.

2023 is the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Japan. Since 1953, the two countries have built a trusting and strong relationship through cooperation during the peace process and the period of national reconstruction in Cambodia. The level of bilateral relations between the two countries has risen from a strategic partnership in 2013 to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023.