Excellency Victor Jona, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Mines and Energy

Mr. Denis Sainte Marie, Executive Director, EuroCham Cambodia

Esteemed colleagues at Eurocham, GGGI, and representatives from line ministries, private sector, the media, ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning.

It is my great pleasure to be present here today on this occasion of the MOU exchange between the United Nations Development Programme – UNDP and the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia – EuroCham. This MOU provides a framework for the cooperation, facilitation and collaboration between both parties in promoting fair and inclusive business that is socially and environmentally responsible, and in supporting Cambodia to achieve the country’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitments.

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 reinforces our intention to work in partnership to help eradicate poverty, support countries in their pathways towards the SDGs, and Climate Action. The private sector plays a crucial role in all of these existential priorities for people and the planet.

In this complex and uncertain time, achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, as well as the long-term climate change framework commitments, depends on close partnerships and collaboration with a diverse range of actors working towards common goals. It requires enormous resources through, for instance, public expenditure, private capital investment and technology transfer. Thus, the role of the private sector is indispensable in helping governments achieve their SDGs commitments.

UNDP is a long-term development partner of the Royal Government of Cambodia to deliver the results that we all envision, including in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. We are aware of the financing needs to accelerate policy implementation. We are working with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to help identify and shape available development finance; innovative public-private partnerships, and market-based financial solutions that incentivize and support an inclusive, green and resilient growth trajectory.

Today’s Forum on Association of Energy Service Companies (ESCO) supported by GGGI and other partners, is a shared vision that will contribute to the successful implementation of the upcoming National Energy Efficiency Policy.

I would like to thank EuroCham for this partnership with UNDP. Concretely, we will start by providing technical advisory inputs to the functioning of some of the sectoral committees of the Chamber, including on Greening Business and Digitalization. We look forward to joint efforts in mobilizing private sector investments for SDGs, including in this instance, the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Thank You.