PHNOM PENH: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed an agreement to provide 140 million U.S. dollars in loans to Cambodia to boost the caliber of the country's labor force and to enhance public service delivery.

The loan agreement was inked in Phnom Penh between Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth and ADB country director for Cambodia Jyotsana Varma, it said in a press statement.

“ADB is pleased to partner with Cambodia in advancing industry-led skills development that readies the country's labor force, especially women, for the challenges and opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and in aligning local government planning with national and provincial budgets to achieve more effective and equitable public service delivery,” Varma said.

“The two programs these loans support will drive Cambodia's efforts to advance growth, employment, equity, efficiency, and sustainability nationwide,” she added.

Under the Skills for the Future Economy Sector Development Program, ADB will lend Cambodia 100 million dollars to help transform the country into a technology-driven, knowledge-based industrial economy, the statement said.

The Second Decentralized Public Service and Financial Management Sector Development Program will see ADB lend Cambodia 40 million dollars to promote decentralization reforms in the Southeast Asian country, it added. Xinhua