Cambodia joins ACD to help with food security and poverty reduction

Chhay Sophal

Cambodia News

Kuwait City (17 Oct, 2102): Cambodia this week has joined Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit to declare fighting against poverty and food security in the Asian continent.

Out of 32 nations joined the first ADC Summit organized in Kuwait city of the Sate of Kuwait on 15-17 October, Cambodia has made its strong commitment to join the 32-member ACD to combat the challenges.

Roland Eng, Special Envoy of the Royal Government of Cambodia at ACD Summit, said that the Royal Government of Cambodia has tired its best for poverty reduction and support for the move.

“As Co-Prime  movers on Poverty Alleviation with Bangladesh and Vietnam, Cambodia fully supports the people-to-people exchange program and stands ready to play a more active role to further develop ACD’s countries common interest and relationship,” he said in his remarks at the summit.

Citing a prediction of the United Nations Environment Program on the need of 50% more food, 40% more energy and 30% more drinking water by 2030, Roland Eng said that “due to to the increasing demand for energy, the production of bio-fuel energy would compete with agriculture products for food and exacerbate the situation of food security…,”

In a joined communiqué of the first ACD, the 32 member states agreed that they would “explore means of achieving food security through increasing agricultural production and productivity, facilitating trade and developing stable food markets, cooperation in research and development in the field of agricultural technology as well as improving nutrition.”

On 16 October, The State of Kuwait’s King Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah called for a mobilization of financial resources up to $2 billion for development projects in the non-Arab Asian nations. With the proposed budget, Kuwait will donate $300 million, King Sheikh Sabah declared in opening ceremony of the summit on 16 October.

The King said that while the Asian population growth is exceeding up to 60% of the global population, it is “a burden on our effort and development plans to achieve the development and progress of our continent…. We are still suffering the consequences of an economic crisis; that did not spare any of our countries; from increasing the numbers of unemployed persons, thus increasing the level of poverty among the peoples of our continent,” King Sheikh Sabah said his speech.

“Our continent has suffered from devastating wars, that have exhausted our economies, claimed lives of many of our citizens, and led to hampering of development in our countries,”

To reach healthy Asia, King Sheikh Sabah also appealed to effectively combat diseases and epidemics by provided vaccines and medicine to the states where they need.