ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF CAMBODIA MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORT NAVIGATION COORDINATION COMMITTEE

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1 BELGIUM / FLANDERS CONTRIBUTION TO THE DESIGN OF THE MASTER PLAN FOR WATERBORNE TRANSPORT ON THE MEKONG RIVER SYSTEM IN CAMBODIA AND TO THE CAMBODIAN. Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

2 As probably everybody knows, the Kingdom of Belgium is a small country in Europe with some 10,5 million inhabitants and subdivided into three regions with their own government and parliament, being the region of Flanders in the North, where the people speak Dutch or Flemish, which is almost the same, the Wallonia region in the South where the people speak French and the THE NETHERLANDS Brussels capital city region where people NORTH SEA speak all kind of languages, because Brussels is also the capital of Europe where the European government or KINGDOM OF BELGIUM commission, the European parliament and FRANCE the European administration have their offices. 50 km GERMANY Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

3 The competencies of the national or federal Belgian government are foreign affairs, development cooperation, justice, defence, finance and economics. The competencies of the Belgian regional governments are education, culture, welfare and employment but also country planning, transport and public works. BELGIUM PARLIAMENT FLANDERS PARLIAMENT Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

4 Within the Belgian development cooperation, until the year 2006, the Kingdom of Cambodia was a priority country, which makes that during the Joint Commission meeting in May 2001, the Cambodian and Belgian authorities decided to include the design of a MASTER PLAN FOR WATERBORNE TRANSPORT ON THE MEKONG RIVER SYSTEM IN CAMBODIA into the joint cooperation program. And in the year 2004, after approval of the Terms of Reference by both Governments, the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) decided to grant a budget of about 1 million US$ to this project, which was executed from April 2005 until September Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

5 In September 2001, here in Phnom Penh, His Excellency Minister Khy Tainglim, Minister of Public Works and Transport of the Royal Government of Cambodia and His Excellency Minister Steve Stevaert, Minister of Mobility and Public Works of the Regional Government of Flanders signed a MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING on cooperation in various fields related to waterborne transport and port development and within this MOU, every three years (2001, 2004, 2007, 2010) a LETTER OF INTENT was discussed and signed, describing the details of the cooperation program for the coming three years. SIGNATURE LETTER OF INTENT 2010 Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

6 On official request of His Excellency Sun Chantol, Minister of Public Works and Transport of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Flanders Government decided to support a CAMBODIAN (NCC), to be established in order to implement the actions and interventions, described in the Master Plan for a period of almost six years (September 2007 until April 2013) and allocated a grant of some US$ for this project. Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

7 Next to this project, within the MOU, since 2006 the Government of Flanders also supported: The acquisition of a ship manoeuvring simulator for the Cambodian Maritime Institute (CMI) with a grant of about US$; The preparation activities for a draft Cambodian Maritime Law, a draft Cambodian Inland Waterway Transport Law and related draft Sub Decrees and Prakas with a grant of two times US$; Each year three full scholarships to attend short training courses at APEC (Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center) and in 2008 eight additional scholarships for a Tailor Made short course on Inland Waterway Transport for a total budget over eight years of some US$; Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

8 A Training of Trainers program with the drafting of four study manuals together with Vietnamese and Laotian counterparts for a (Cambodian) grant budget of US$; and finally This year, Flanders Government will support the establishment of a Cambodian Inland Navigation Training Center, giving short courses for professionals for a grant budget of about US$; which means that since the year 2006, Flanders Government also dedicated some 1 million US$ as a grant for several cooperation projects in the waterborne transport sector in Cambodia. Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

9 And representing H.E. Hilde Crevits, actual Minister of Mobility and Public Works of the Government of Flanders, I can tell you that we are proud of what you achieved here in Cambodia during this period. But we also know that the work is not finished and waterborne transport on the Mekong River system in Cambodia still needs a lot of support to fully reach its enormous potentiality. Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

10 Opportunities for Collaboration and Development Knowing that both Cambodia and Flanders have an enormous potential in maritime and inland waterway transport, the Government of Flanders would be happy and proud to continue its contribution and to share Cambodian and European insights and actions on waterborne transport and ports related engineering, economic, environmental and juridical know-how and experiences. THANK YOU Final Workshop Navigation Coordination Committee, Phnom Penh, April

Master of Laws Advanced Studies in European Law Ghent University - Ghent - Flanders - Belgium

Master of Laws Advanced Studies in European Law Ghent University - Ghent - Flanders - Belgium European Law in the Heart of Europe UniversityGhent,Photo scover:hildechristiaens Lay-out:Karakters-Ghent Ghent