World Bank Commits to Long-Term Partnership with Cambodia
World Bank Commits to Long-Term Partnership with Cambodia
On the afternoon of 7 July 2025, Samdech Moha BorvorThipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, received a courtesy call from H.E. Ms. Manuela V. Ferro, the World Bank’s Regional Vice President For East Asia and Pacific, at the Peace Palace.
During the meeting, H.E. Ms. Manuela V. Ferro expressed her appreciation and pleasure in meeting the Prime Minister. She conveyed her strong impression of Cambodia’s resilience and potential, noting that despite global uncertainty, the country has maintained a robust and resilient economy built on a solid foundation spanning over two decades. This progress has positioned Cambodia as a dynamic and forward-moving nation. Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia emerged as one of the leading countries in successfully combating the outbreak.
Furthermore, H.E. Ms. Manuela V. Ferro affirmed the World Bank’s commitment to a continued long-term partnership with Cambodia through enhanced cooperation in key sectors such as education, healthcare, and agriculture. She added that to drive economic growth, Cambodia should continue to strengthen public-private partnerships and enhance capacity building in strategic sectors, including energy, agriculture, agro-industry, infrastructure development, and regional and global market connectivity through existing bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
In response, Samdech Borvor Thipadei expressed gratitude for the World Bank’s contributions to Cambodia’s socio-economic development. He outlined the vision and key policies of the Royal Government’s seventh mandate, aimed at ensuring resilient and sustainable development. Samdech BorvorThipadei emphasised the government’s priority on human capital development, strengthening education from primary to secondary levels and launching targeted vocational skills training programmes.
He also highlighted a free vocational training initiative targeting 1.5 million young people, designed to enhance competitiveness in industrial, manufacturing, and supply chain sectors. Additionally, he underscored the government’s focus on strengthening agriculture and agro-industries through pragmatic policies and strategies to support and ensure the sustainability of these sectors. Samdech Borvor Thipadeiencouraged the World Bank to deepen its cooperation with relevant ministries and institutions to expand and strengthen the partnership.
Both Samdech Borvor Thipadei and H.E. Ms. Manuela V. Ferro exchanged views on strengthening collaboration in several potential sectors, including enhancing public-private partnerships, the digital sector, renewable energy, education, and infrastructure development.
SP-STPM: Unofficial Translation
