Asia Foundation, interior ministry to step up co-op
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng committed his ministry to establishing additional cooperative partnerships with The Asia Foundation, above all on decentralisation and deconcentration reforms in Cambodia.
The minister made the remark on March 18 during a meeting with the US-based non-profit international development organisation’s president and CEO, David D Arnold, and board members Robert O Blake Jr and Abdullah Ahmadzai, the latter of whom is also the Afghanistan country representative.
Sar Kheng, who also doubles as a deputy prime minister, told the executives that he “is always ready to provide cooperation” to their organisation “in any necessary case”, the ministry noted in a statement later that day.
The minister thanked The Asia Foundation for its contributions to development in Cambodia, through its “important” programmes, both public and private, geared towards areas such as education, youth support, local governance, accountability mechanisms at the sub-national level, and other works under the purview of his ministry.
He voiced optimism that cooperation between Cambodia and the foundation would only grow stronger.
Arnold emphasised at the meeting that The Asia Foundation’s works in Cambodia cover many spheres under the authority of the interior ministry, including social accountability. He also congratulated the Kingdom for the upcoming March 21 launch of the second iteration of an associated national plan, for 2021-2030.
“This marks an achievement in decentralisation and deconcentration in Cambodia,” he said in the statement.
Arnold thanked Sar Kheng as well as the ministry and its affiliated institutions for “good cooperation” in The Asia Foundation’s works in the Kingdom.