EU Grants US$14 Million for Bakheng Water Facility

• 22 April 2020
• Local News
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) secured a EUR 12.7 million (approximately US$13.9 million) grant from the European Union for the construction of the Bakheng Water Treatment Plant and 500 kilometres of water distribution network in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

The infrastructure will bring safe, drinking water and improve quality of living for 700,000 people from some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the city, according to a press release issued on May 18.

The EU grant will expand the water distribution network to the poorest areas of the city. It complements an earlier EUR 185 million investment from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Blending of the EIB, the AFD and the EU financing will provide treated potable water to the fast-expanding

Today, close to 70 percent of the Cambodians do not have access to piped water supply, including 28 percent of people living in Phnom Penh, stated the bank.

H.E. Hem Vanndy, Cambodia’s Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance said that the Royal Government of Cambodia welcomes the contribution from the European partners as it will have a major impact on the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Cambodians.

The projects we implement with the EU and the EIB like Bakheng are important for Cambodia, as they support our sustainable development and growth, H.E. Hem Vanndy said.

The Bakheng Water Treatment Plant in Phnom Penh is a four-year project from 2019 to 2020. The projects costs US$247 million, of which US$185 million are concessional loan from EIB and AFD, US$15 million is grant from the EU, and the rest is from Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority.

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• Economy and Finance