Tin Sokhavuth
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| George Edgar (center left), the European Union’s ambassador to Cambodia, met with Veng Sakhon, the Minister of Agriculture, on Monday. Supplied |
George Edgar, the European Union’s ambassador to Cambodia, met with Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon on Monday to discuss possible European Union (EU) aid to help the Kingdom strengthen its agricultural sector.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Facebook page, the minister asked Mr. Edgar to help Cambodia by providing the necessary resources and skills as well as be a favorable market for its agricultural products.
According to the EU’s website, the EU is the largest donor of development aid in the world and also to Cambodia in terms of grant donations. The annual amount of EU aid to Cambodia is about $45 million.
“All the European Commission financial assistance is given in non-refundable (grant) donations,” it says.
The largest chunk of financial assistance to Cambodia from the EU is channeled through bilateral cooperation with the government. From 2007 to 2013, more than $191 million in EU aid reached the Kingdom.
The aid covered support in agriculture, education, governance and human rights, children’s rights, the judiciary system, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, promotion of local governance and trade.
Besides bilateral cooperation to the government, the EU also provides funding through specific NGO projects in a variety of areas such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food security, education, vocational training, climate change and environment.
“There are currently more than 70 ongoing projects for more than 62 million euros (about $83 million) throughout all the 23 provinces in Cambodia and Phnom Penh, each covering either one, several or all the provinces,” read the website.
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