Samdech Sar Kheng Asks ADB for Additional Funding for National School of Local Government Project
Phnom Penh: Samdech Krala Hom Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, requested the Asian Development Bank for additional funding for the National School of Local Government project, which is still in short supply.
On October 4, 2022, Samdech Krala Hom Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, received the newly-appointed Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Cambodia, Jyotsana Verma, for a courtesy call at the National Assembly.
To begin with, Prince Sar Kheng extended a warm welcome to the Director and stated that on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Prince would like to thank the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for continuing its mission with Cambodia for many years to become a development partner. May be lacking.
He added that the ADB is also a donor who has contributed to the Royal Government of Cambodia in the fight against Kovid-19, which is a complex issue and would not be as successful as it is today.
He added that ADB has also supported Cambodia in decentralization and deconcentration reforms since 2002, along with a number of other development projects with countries along the Mekong River.
Regarding decentralization and deconcentration reform, Samdech Krala Hom Sar Kheng informed the Director that based on the work history, this reform is a new work that requires high attention and commitment.
He added that the Royal Government has consistently been successful in that these reforms have contributed to the promotion of stability, ownership, poverty reduction and the promotion of women’s participation in sub-national administrations.
He also raised a number of issues to be addressed in the work related to this reform, including the reform work, which is an important policy that has been put in place for nearly two decades.
He concluded that the understanding of stakeholders, both public institutions and civil society involved in this reform is still limited, there are different views and interpretations of the vision and purpose of this reform.
The second challenge is that the structure of each sub-national administration is not yet fully adapted to the different characteristics of each sub-national administration, such as major cities, towns and rural areas.
Another issue related to the transfer of functions to the sub-national administration, he added that today the Royal Government has transferred 55 functions in 20 areas to the municipal administration, however, this transfer is not yet appropriate. The number of functions and the size of each function transferred and is not yet smooth.
Samdech continued that, in fact, the Royal Government has recently issued laws and sub-decrees related to investment, which allow sub-national administrations to decide on projects worth up to 5 million US dollars without having to cross the national level, but not yet. No administration has yet decided on this work.
He added that these issues require the support of the national administration because if not implemented successfully can affect the feelings and opinions of the public on decentralization and deconcentration reforms, while another issue is the personnel management system and human resource development. Sub-national administration.
He also mentioned some important issues that are inter-sectoral, such as the establishment of digital governance, climate change, the promotion of gender equality, the environment and the promotion of social equity, which are not yet fully understood and fully implemented in the general work. Still.
Samdech also mentioned that the Royal Government of Cambodia has recently launched a new national program, which will respond to the above issues.
He also thanked the ADB for its cooperation in implementing the five-year project to establish a National School of Local Administration.
He said the project was being implemented about five months later than planned due to land management issues for school construction and the Kovid-19 issue, and that he hoped the ADB would continue to support the version. Forms of decentralization and deconcentration, as well as the National Program of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Phase II.
He also raised a number of proposals to the ADB, such as the continued search for additional technical experts to support a range of inter-sectoral work, such as digital governance, climate change, which is a new task that requires the support of development partners. .
He also asked the Asian Development Bank for additional funding to support the National School for Local Administration project, which is still in short supply. The prince also proposed to support the construction of infrastructure other than the National School building, local administration, such as parks, sports fields and ponds.
He also asked the ADB to provide technical and material support for the research work of the National School of Local Administration, including the construction of a database on local governance. Samdech also proposed to support the project to strengthen the capacity of district administration in local economic development.
The ADB Director thanked Prince Kralahom for hosting her and said that the Asian Development Bank was a strong partner of the Royal Government of Cambodia, especially the Ministry of Interior, with a number of projects underway.
She thanked Prince Kralahom for his appreciation for ADB’s support in the fight against Kovid-19, which has yielded commendable results. Regarding the ADB projects along the Mekong River, she also informed the Prince that those projects were completed after 20 years, but there is still work to be done in this area that ADB is studying.
She also congratulated the Royal Government of Cambodia for its commitment and willingness to implement decentralization and deconcentration reforms, which is a long-term task. She was very pleased to hear the news through Samdech Krala Hom that the Royal Government of Cambodia has focused and focused on gender equality.
In response to the request, the Prime Minister informed the acceptance of these proposals and continued to study with the working group of the Ministry of Interior to ensure the effectiveness of the project between ADB and the Ministry of Interior.
She said that for the work related to climate change, ADB is currently preparing a project worth up to 100 billion dollars for 2030, she asked the prince to provide support.
In response to the remarks of the ADB Director, Prince Kralahom is ready to continue working with the Director during her term in Cambodia.
