Cambodia, 4 Development Partners Launch 12 Mln USD Program

The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, together with four development partners, on Monday launched the Trade Development Support Program (TDSP) worth 12.6 million U.S. dollars to assist Cambodia to expand its international trade, said a press release from the World Bank's ( WB) country office.

"The program focuses on legal reforms, trade facilitation and product standards, and is designed to empower the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to facilitate trade by improving regulations and internal processes," it said.

TDSP is part of the trade sector-wide approach, which unites all activities funded by development partners to assist the RGC to enhance its trade potential, it added.

"It is a strong commitment of the RGC to translate Aid for Trade into concrete actions that will contribute to a more robust private sector and overall income generation," Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh told the launching ceremony.

Meanwhile, Qimiao Fan, WB's Country Manager, said that "with global trade expected to shrink in 2009 for the first time in 27 years and Cambodia's economy under real pressure, we need to find wider export markets and bigger investors for Cambodia."

"We aim to help government make business easy for local and foreign business people who want to contribute to Cambodia's growth," he added.

The program is financed by the European Commission, the Danish International Aid Agency (Danida) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and will be administered by WB, according to the press release.