- ADB and the Nordic Development Fund established the Project Readiness Improvement Trust Fund to help design procurement ready, climate change responsive infrastructure projects.
- The Project Readiness Improvement Trust Fund supports infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia that help member countries mitigate and adapt to climate change and deliver their intended Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.
- Cambodia is one of the most impacted countries in the world by climate change. The PRIF-supported climate change responsive designs are crucial for areas like Kep.
ADB’s Multi-Donor Project Readiness Improvement Trust Fund (PRI Fund) helps Southeast Asia prepare and design infrastructure projects with climate-resilient features. The PRI Fund supports the conduct of (i) climate risk vulnerability assessments, engineering designs that incorporate climate adaptation and mitigation measures and greater safety factors at the outset, (ii) feasibility studies, (iii) knowledge transfer, and (iv) capacity building. With an $8 million contribution from the Nordic Development Fund in 2016, the PRI Fund has to date leveraged over $2 billion of climate-resilient investments that are shovel-ready, innovative, and catalytic. Watch the PRI Fund video with a special highlight on Cambodia’s Second Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project (TIIGP2).
Transcript
The Project Readiness Improvement Trust Fund: Promoting Climate Resilient Investments in Cambodia
The Project Readiness Improvement Trust Fund was established by ADB and the Nordic Development Fund to help design procurement ready, climate change responsive infrastructure projects.
The PRI Fund supports infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia that help countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. It ensures projects are robustly designed, shovel ready, and help member countries deliver their intended Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.
How does the PRI Fund help Cambodia?
Elizabeth Jung, Urban Development Specialist, Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank
“Climate change is highly impacting Cambodia; it is one of the most impacted countries in the world. The climate change responsive designs supported by PRIF are crucial for the area, especially like Kep – it is a coastal area and highly vulnerable to climate effects."
In partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Fund supported the ‘Second Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project’.
The project is helping transform coastal towns into economically inclusive and competitive international tourism destinations by improving road transport infrastructure, water transport infrastructure, and solid waste management – all needed to sustainably manage tourism growth.
What specifically does the PRI Fund support in Cambodia?
In the coastal town of Kep the Fund helped facilitate the design and construction of a 3.5 km improved access road to a new state-of-the-art 13.4 hectare landfill, Koh Tonsay tourism facilities, and a 12.5 km coastal road project that connects Kep to the Angkol area south of the city.
Project readiness and fast rollout have been essential components of the project’s success.
The Kep waste management project, the coastal road improvements and construction of the Koh Tonsay pier are being implemented by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
HE Vong Pisith – Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Public Works and Transport
“We are aware that by building a coastal road, the pier, and a waste-controlled landfill site it makes Kep city a better and cleaner place. A clean city attracts more tourists. It’s a win-win policy.
Steven Schipani, Principal Tourism Industry Specialist, Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank
“It is tremendously important to have readier projects and when I say a readier project this is when we are able to prepare some, if not all, of the detailed engineering designs and bidding documents very early in the project preparation stage and certainly by the time the project is approved by ADB and government. What that allows us to do is we can go to the market faster with the bidding documents. It helps to speed up the procurement of the infrastructure or other services to deliver benefits faster to our beneficiaries.”
Upon project completion, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Tourism will manage the sites that will benefit approximately 67,000 residents. Koh Tongsay is expected to draw 60,000 tourists per year.
HE Sok Sokun, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Tourism
“The tourism sector works as a system. We can’t implement or develop tourism alone. It’s inter-related to other sectors. They all support inclusive and sustainable tourism development. In addition, these projects protect the environment and help mitigate climate change impacts.”
Food seller
Kep Beach
“Since the city has improved rubbish collection the beaches and this whole area is more attractive so more visitors will start coming.”
Why was the Kep Waste Management site needed?
The new Kep landfill is a state-of-the-art facility for waste disposal and management in Cambodia. It has transformed the existing site into a managed, efficient, and sanitary landfill.
The site includes:
• Perimeter runoff interceptor drainage system
• Cells with impermeable liners, leachate collection/treatment system
• Small materials recovery facility for waste separation and recycling and a medical waste treatment area
• Septage treatment facility
• 3.5 km access road
H.E. Som Piseth, Kep Governor, Royal Government of Cambodia
"Since the beginning, together we have made this project a success. We’ve done this with the support and collaboration at the national level through various ministries, particularly the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and through the provincial administration. With all their support plus ADB, we have made this a success.”
• Four waste pits built on 5 ha of land.
• Each holding up to seven layers of rubbish to a height of 21 m
• Landfill can hold approximately one million tons of waste.
The Kep solid waste management project is keeping the streets and beach areas in Kep town clean. Along with improved coastal road access and a new tourism pier on the popular Koh Tonsay island, these climate resilient infrastructure investments are expected to improve lives and livelihoods through sustainable, managed tourism for generations to come.
Additional PRI Fund Projects in Cambodia
- Second Integrated Urban Environmental Management in the Tonle Sap Basin Project
- Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development Project
- Road Network Improvement Project
- Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project
- Southeast Asia Urban Services Facility: Livable Cities Investment Project
- Agricultural Value Chain Infrastructure Improvement Project
The PRI Trust Fund has been instrumental in leveraging and mobilizing additional resources and expertise from key development partners not only for project preparation but also for the financing of ensuing climate resilient projects in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines, and Viet Nam.
(Co-financiers’ flags or logos)
ADB Climate Change Fund
AFD (Agence Française de Développement)
ASEAN Australia Smart Cities Trust Fund
ASEAN Infrastructure Fund
Government of Australia
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Cooperation Fund for Project Preparation in GMS and in other Asian Countries
GCF/GIZ
Global Environment Facility
Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific Logo
Japan’s High-Level Technology Fund
The Netherlands
IFAD
EU
European Investment Bank
NDF
Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund
Spanish Cooperation Fund for Technical Assistance
Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (financed by UK FCDO, SECO and Rockefeller Foundation)
