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EU pledges 52 mln USD to Cambodia for social, economic development
The European Union (EU) on Thursday pledged to provide a grant of about 52 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia for agriculture, decentralization process and public financial management, a Cambodian government official said.
The pledge was made in the 7th EU-Cambodia Joint Committee meeting, which was co-chaired by Ouch Borith, secretary of state for Cambodia's foreign ministry, and Pedro Serrano, director for South and South East Asia in the European External Action Service.
Speaking in a press briefing after the one-day meeting, Ouch Borith said the grant is expected to be passed by the EU at the end of this year.
It includes a 25 million U.S. dollars package for agriculture, 19 million U.S. dollars for decentralization process and 8 million U.S. dollars for public financial management, he said.
Besides, the two sides agreed to strengthen and expand relations and cooperation in all fields, especially the ties in trade and investment.
"The EU is Cambodia's key trading partner," Ouch Borith said, adding that last year, Cambodia's exports to European countries were 1.26 billion U.S. dollars.
He added that more than three quarters of Cambodia's exports entered the EU market without paying any duties at all.
The EU-Cambodia Joint Committee is the highest level policy dialogue platform between the two partners, said Pedro Serrano.
"The meeting allowed us to go through the whole spectrum of our bilateral relations and cooperation," he said, adding that the EU will still continue helping Cambodia for social and economic development process.
xinhua
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