Australia is working with Cambodia to address the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and support the Kingdom’s recovery and progress toward a more resilient and inclusive middle-income country, as the Cambodia COVID-19 Development Response Plan (CDRP) was launched today.

At the launching ceremony, a Statement of Commitment to ensure the effective implementation of the Plan was co-signed by H.E. Chhieng Yanara, Minster Attached to Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board (CRDB), and H.E. Pablo Kang, Australian Ambassador to Cambodia.

The Plan sets out how Australia will support Cambodia’s recovery through three pillars –health security; social stability and inclusion; and economic recovery.

“Australia will invest in a suite of activities across these pillars to support Cambodia’s recovery,” H.E. Pablo Kang said. “That will include improving the quality and accessibility of hospitals, promoting gender and disability inclusion, boosting food production, supporting Cambodia’s energy transition, and empowering citizens to shape their local authority’s response to pandemic.”

To implement the Plan, the Australian Government will provide approximately US$85 million in grants to Cambodia as part of its ongoing bilateral development cooperation programme. This is in addition to the US$170 million that Australian Prime Minister H.E. Scott Morrison has committed to support economic integration and development in Mekong countries and the US$445 million that Australia has committed to roll out COVID-19 vaccines in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

H.E. Chhieng Yanara said that the Plan is protecting Cambodian citizens from the impacts of the pandemic and supporting Cambodia’s recovery toward a more resilient and inclusive middle-income country.

“Australia is one of our pro-active partners that take a critical step earlier to prepare the CDRP to response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “The CDRP represents one of the most significant collaborations in development partnerships between the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and the Australian Government. The CDRP is highly regarded by the RGC as it has reprioritised the most important interventions which focus on three fundamental sectors that are well-aligned with the RGC’s plan for post COVID-19 social-economic recovery.”