PHNOM PENH, 10 December 2020 – United Nations Industrial Development (UNIDO) Director General, LI Yong, and Cambodia’s Senior Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, Kitti Settha Pandita Cham Prasidh, have today signed a Programme for Country Partnership.

The signing of the Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) constitutes a landmark in UNIDO’s support for Cambodia’s goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030. The programme will support the development of agro-value chains, including those with linkages to the tourism sector, and  will also foster industrial diversification and innovation, including through special economic zone development. Cross-cutting components in the area of industrial policy and statistics, quality infrastructure, sustainable energy, and the circular economy, as well as women’s empowerment and youth employment, will ensure a comprehensive approach that addresses the needs of key stakeholders and vulnerable groups.

“The PCP plays a crucial role in supporting the implementation of key policy documents and in achieving the government’s priorities, especially in regards to the immediate recovery strategy devised to respond to the COVID-19 crisis,” said Cham Prasidh. He also strongly encouraged relevant government agencies, donors, partners and the private sector to join forces to maximize the PCP’s development impact.

UNIDO’s Li emphasized that “by focusing on sectors with high growth potential, the PCP will help the country to achieve its industrialization objectives, in line with the national development agenda. The PCP is a multi-stakeholder partnership at the country-level. Therefore, UNIDO will join hands with all development partners active in the country, not only for the short-term recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, but also in efforts towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.”

The signing ceremony was witnessed by senior government representatives from all relevant Ministries and from high-level international development partners. Pauline Tamesis, UN Resident Coordinator in Cambodia, stressed that “the PCP can also enable the United Nations in Cambodia at large to successfully implement the socio-economic response framework to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.”

The European Union (EU) is a donor for major UNIDO projects in Cambodia, and Carmen Moreno, the EU’s Ambassador to Cambodia, stated that “the PCP provides us with a very useful framework to explore further possibilities to work with the Cambodian Government and UNIDO to fully harness Cambodia’s industrial development potential.”

The signing of the PCP was accompanied by the launch one of the key projects to be implemented. The Agro-Food and Tourism Enterprise Recovery Programme addresses the challenges of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the midst of the current COVID-19 crisis. The Programme is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which was represented at the virtual signing by its Director of Cooperation, Markus Buerli.

For more information, please contact:

Ralf Bredel,

Chief of the Asia and the Pacific Regional Division and SIDS Focal Point, UNIDO

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