KOICA Press Release: Cambodia and Korea to sign for the First National S&T Master Plan

NEWS RELEASE

Cambodia and Korea to sign for the First National S&T Master Plan

Phnom Penh: Ministry of Planning and the Korea International Cooperation Agency on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Korea will sign a Record of Discussion to start a $3.5 million project called “project for the Establishment of Cambodia’s National Science and Technology Master Plan 2014-2020” on June 24, 2011 at the office of the Ministry of Planning.

The project is the grant aid from Korean Government to Cambodia to contribute to the sustainable socioeconomic development of Cambodia through the establishment of the National S&T Master Plan, which will guide domestic research and development (R&D) infrastructure building, capability expansion, and government research projects. Moreover, it will help improve the quality and quantity of human resources for the development of national R&D programs, and build an S&T information system for effective diffusion of knowledge among S&T policy-makers and related entities both in public and private sectors in order to foster economic development.

Within 3 years from 2011 to 2013, the project was planned to (1) establish National S&T Master plan that focuses on the research and development in 3 such core industries as Agriculture, Industry Infrastructure, and Information and Communication Technology sectors; (2) dispatch Korean Experts to Cambodia for the establishment of the Master Plan; (3) provide equipment related to S&T system and ICT infrastructure; and (4) invite related Cambodian government officials to joint training in Korea.

This project is a crucial factor to allow Cambodia to acquire technology and knowledge related to national science and technology, and it is a meaningful opportunity for Korea to share its previous experience and knowledge on national science and technology, while fostering strong partnerships and cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Be noted that since 1991, the total volume of KOICA’s grant aid to Cambodia has been scaling up to $ 68 million, covering a wide range of areas such as infrastructure, agriculture & rural development, health, education sectors as well as cross-cutting sectors such as environment, democracy, civil society, gender, public administration, etc including “good governance” which is the core value of the Rectangular Strategy.