Cambodia-UK collaborate on renewable infrastructure

CAMBODIA and the UK are committed to ongoing collaboration in promoting the development of green infrastructure and renewable economic zone (Green SEZ) projects, involving the dissemination of knowledge, training and enhancing awareness of the public-private partnership (PPP) cycle, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The ministry, in cooperation with the UK Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), conducted a five-day training workshop from January 22-28 titled “UK-Cambodia Partnership for Green Infrastructure: IPA Workshops on Effective Project Development, Funding and Financing”, as detailed in a January 26 joint press release.

Ministry spokesperson Meas Sok Sensan said the workshop aimed to strengthen the foundation for supporting the development and execution of high-quality and effective PPPs.

“The training course was a component of the [renewable] infrastructure project development programme and the pilot project experiences of Green SEZ, supported by the UK embassy within the framework of IPA, associated with skills and knowledge in PPP mechanisms,” he explained.

He noted that the ministry would persist in working with the IPA team and the UK embassy to bolster the development of institutional capacity and human resources for PPP procedures.

“We conducted the training in alignment with the memorandum of understanding [MoU] signed between the [finance ministry] and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office [FCDO] of the UK and Northern Ireland,” he added.

Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, highlighted on January 28 the importance of implementing the methods to meet the financial requirements for providing various public services and infrastructure investments.

He added that the mechanism aims to sustain economic growth and productivity, with the goal of achieving upper-middle-income status by 2030 and high-income status by 2050, acknowledging that the state budget alone cannot cover the expenditures.

“Cambodia needs to mobilise more resources from the private sector to alleviate the strain on national budget spending. At the same time, the private sector can bring efficiency, innovation, knowledge and know-how, enhancing the economy’s effectiveness and productivity, as well as adding higher value,” he said.