PHNOM PENH: The Cambodia Development Cooperation Board of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDCB/CDC) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) held here at the CDC's headquarters on Jan. 25 their “first bilateral meeting in 2024” boost development cooperation and partnership between the two countries.

The Cambodian side was led by H.E. Chhieng Yanara, Senior Minister in Charge of Special Missions and Second Vice-Chairman of the CDC, while the KOICA side was headed by Ms. Choi Moon Jung, Country Director of the KOICA Cambodia Office.

According to the KOICA Cambodia Office's press release, AKP received this afternoon, the main purpose of this meeting was to discuss candidate projects for 2025, new projects identification plan for 2026, and update ongoing programmes.

Both sides also touched on the preparation for the inauguration ceremony of a new building for the National Incubation Centre of Cambodia (NICC) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).

During the meeting, Ms Choi Moon Jung commended Cambodia for its swift progress across all domains and conveyed her heartfelt gratitude to the Royal Government of Cambodia and its officials, specifically the CDCB/CDC, for their excellent collaboration in ensuring the success of the KOICA's projects and programmes in Cambodia.

H.E. Chhieng Yanara in return highly expressed his gratitude to KOICA, and the Government and people of the Republic of Korea, for continuously supporting Cambodia's socioeconomic development through the implementation of projects and programmes. He said that he highly valued all the achievements made by KOICA.

Moreover, the two sides discussed continued cooperation on the Official Development Assistance (ODA) between Cambodia and Korea. They also laid stress on the next step of working between KOICA, CDC, and the Cambodian relevant ministries to develop the most feasible new projects for 2026.

Last year, KOICA marked a milestone–the 20th anniversary of its presence in Cambodia. Since the establishment of its Cambodia Office on Sept. 1, 2003, KOICA has assisted the socio-economic development of Cambodia in four core-priority sectors, including Water Management and Public Health, Education, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Transport through various ODA projects and programmes of a total value of about US$366.5 million from 1991-2023.