Phnom Penh, 15 March 2018 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia (MFA.IC) hosted the training on ASEAN project development and management for the government officials of Cambodia on 14-15 March in Phnom Penh. The training is a joint effort of Cambodia and the ASEAN Secretariat.
Mr. Kan Pharidh, Under-Secretary of State of MFA.IC and ASEAN SOM Leader ofCambodia in his opening remarks stressed the importance of ASEAN cooperation projects as one of the implementing vehicles to support the overall goal of ASEAN integration. He highlighted that the training will provide participants with a great understanding in proposal development, funding application, project implementation and monitoring, and project reporting and completion. Further, he encouraged participants to actively participate in and get as much information as needed from the resource persons to enable them to be future Cambodian project proponents and to develop more successful regional project proposals.
More than 90 officials representing various ministries and agencies in Cambodia actively participated in the 2-day training which consisted of lectures/presentations, discussion and group exercises to cover such topics as regional project proposal development, submission and national coordination, appraisal and approval of projects, and financial reporting and submission of completion reports facilitated by the ASEAN Secretariat officers and representatives from the host.
Participants appreciated the information and skills provided by the training and highlighted the information on how to to coordinate and network with relevant offices such as the ASEAN General Department of the MFA.IC, Permanent Mission ofCambodia to ASEAN and ASEAN Secretariat who can assist potential proponents interested to develop project proposals in the future
In the closing remarks, MEAS Kim Heng, Under-Secretary of State of the MFA.IC mentioned that Cambodia, as the youngest member of ASEAN, needs to further actively engage in ASEAN integration process, contribute to the ASEAN community-building process and to remain competitive, resilient and relevant. He further mentioned that increased capacity to formulate good project proposals on a number of regional priority areas relevant to Cambodia such as tourism, trade and investment, human resource development, among others is certainly one of the means to achieve the above-mentioned goals. Further, he reaffirmed the commitment of the MFA.IC to assist all relevant line ministries and agencies in Cambodia who wish to develop project proposals and seek funding supports from various Dialogue Partners of ASEAN.
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