PHNOM PENH: Cambodia has increased its contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to one million dollars from 2025 to 2028.
This decision was made during a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Vice President of IFAD, Jyosna Puri, at the Peace Palace on Thursday afternoon, 2 February 2023.
The Prime Minister’s personal assistant, Eang Sophalleth, told the media after the meeting that the Vice President of IFAD expressed her respect for the Prime Minister's efforts to maintain peace and social stability in Cambodia, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She added that she has observed how Prime Minister Hun Sen has helped people climb above the poverty line through the provision of social protection and the establishment of good policies for agriculture and rural development. This includes stationing agricultural technicians in rural communes and the launch of irrigation programs to enhance the production of quality agricultural products in line with market demand.
Jyosna Puri further informed the Prime Minister that IFAD would like to express its respect and support for Cambodia's efforts to maintain peace, stability and development in the agricultural sector. On behalf of the development fund’s President, she also extended her thanks to Cambodia for increasing its contribution to the fund from US $600,000 to US $1 million, from 2025-2028. She pledged that IFAD will continue to support Cambodia in the agricultural sector even more.
In response, Prime Minister Hun Sen remarked that IFAD has been a good partner for more than 30 years, adding that he believes the organization has the same vision as Cambodia so he would like to see this partnership continue.
Eang Sophalleth quoted the Prime Minister as saying, “Cambodia has focused on the development of agriculture and rural areas and wishes to allow farmers to produce and make profit, we want to keep people from crossing below the poverty line and want to transform the agriculture sector into one of agribusiness and agro-industry.”
The Prime Minister once again expressed his pleasure over the good partnership with IFAD and the decision to increase Cambodia's contribution from US $600,000 to US $1 million from 2025-2028.
