MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
Today I am pleased to announce I will sign three Memoranda of Understanding
with my Cambodian counterpart, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, committing Australia
to funding of $28.2 million over the next 6 years.
The funding is representative of the Australian Government's recognition of
the development challenges facing Cambodia.
Through the Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Extension Project, Australian assistance
will help farming families to increase their crop yields and farming income,
so they have surplus crops for sale and better nutrition for their families.
Australians will train agricultural extension workers who advise farmers in
areas such as land preparation, pesticide use and diversifying and handling
food crops.
Additional farming communities will benefit from the Agriculture Quality Improvement
Project which will improve the supply of good quality rice seed, reduce wastage
in rice milling and improve the prices received by fruit and vegetable growers.
These two projects are expected to improve the incomes, food security and nutrition
of over 350,000 farm families.
Eighty-five per cent of Cambodians live in rural areas, but this critical sector
continues to operate at a subsistence level. Parts of Cambodia regularly have
rice shortages, and rural incomes and nutritional levels are low.
The third MOU signed today is an extension of the Criminal Justice Assistance
Project, which targets improved adherence to international human rights standards
among the judicial police, prisons and courts. The project is being extended
for 15 months, while a second phase is being considered.
In conjunction with these three projects, up to twenty Australian specialists
will live in Cambodia and work closely with their Cambodian colleagues, strengthening
the already very positive Australia Cambodia relationship.
All of these projects are part of the $37.9 million 2000-01 development assistance
program for Cambodia announced in the recent Budget. The program emphasises
the need to balance reconstruction and rehabilitation needs with the longer-term
need to develop a sustainable economy and the human resources to manage it.
Other areas of assistance in Cambodia include health, education and training,
landmine clearance, food aid and refugee resettlement and community development
through non-government organisations. Australia is the third largest bilateral
aid donor to Cambodia.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
Media contacts:
James Baker: (Ministerial) 02 6277 7500 / 0419 206 890
Fionna Douglas: (AusAID) 02 6206 4960 / 0412 804 489