Sabo Ojano, Secretary of State at Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment, presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) between the Ministry of Environment and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on October 26, 2026.
The ceremony was attended by Abid Gulzar, AFSC’s Regional Director for Asia, representing the organisation, as well as Ministry of Environment leaders and representatives of general departments and relevant specialist departments.
On the occasion, Sabo Ojano said that, under the guidance of Cambodia’s Prime Minister, the Ministry of Environment had introduced the “Environmental Circular Strategy 2023–2028,” which sets out the strategic priorities of “clean,” “green” and “sustainable” toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The Ministry has been implementing campaigns to promote cleanliness on land, in water and in the sky. Strategic environmental assessment will help Cambodia prepare for potential environmental challenges, reduce risks and costs, and create opportunities for green development in industry, mining, energy, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, telecommunications and other important sectors set out in the Environment and Natural Resources Code.
The signing ceremony was organised with four main objectives:
1—Continue reviewing and providing comments on the draft general guidelines for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and the draft SEA guidelines for sand businesses along the Mekong River.
2—Complete the procedures for reviewing the contents of the draft general guidelines for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and the draft SEA guidelines for sand business projects along the Mekong River.
3—Encourage public participation and build capacity within the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) framework.
4—Promote strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in other priority sectors in the Kingdom of Cambodia. By: Srey Pi
