PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen met with the President of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Masatsugu Asakawa, on Thursday, 11 November 2022, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in Phnom Penh, during which both sides highlighted the close partnership and good cooperation between Cambodia and ADB.

Prime Minister Hun Sen thanked ADB, as one of Cambodia's main development partners, for its assistance and financing toward Cambodia's socio-economic development. He underscored ADB's assistance extended to the Royal Government of Cambodia in its immediate response to the Covid-19 pandemic and in the implementation of "The Strategic Framework and Programs for Economic Recovery in the Context of Living with Covid-19 in a New Normal 2021-2023.

The ADB President, in turn, congratulated Cambodia for the smooth process in hosting the ASEAN Summits and Related Summits and highly appreciated the good cooperation between Cambodia and ADB for more than 30 years. He stressed that ADB maintained its economic growth forecast for Cambodia at 5.3% in 2022, but lowered the 2023 forecast to 6.2% from the earlier prediction of 6.5% due to weaker global growth. He said ADP is also preparing a new country partnership strategy for the period 2024-2028.

He further underlined ADB's commitment to further strengthen and broaden its commitment in the coming years in order to continue its contribution in addressing the challenges facing the country's development. He congratulated Cambodia, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, on the successful prevention and control of the spread of Covid-19, achieving status as one of the top vaccinated countries.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and Masatsugu Asakawa further discussed climate change cooperation, during which ADB reiterated its readiness to closely cooperate with the Royal Government of Cambodia in planning prioritized programs on climate change and green energy development.