Active Development AidData Chinese Aid

Lancang-Mekong Fund provides USD $2 million to Cambodia for 9 projects in 2023

$2M USD

Funder	Unspecified Chinese Government Institution
Recipient Organization	Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Special Fund
Country	Cambodia
Start Date	Jun 15, 2023
End Date	Feb 22, 2026
Duration	983 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`108648`

Grant Description

In 2023, Cambodia received USD $2 million from the Lancang-Mekong Fund for nine projects in the following fields: - Transportation and logistics (Record ID#108775) - Information Technology - Food security - Research - Capacity building (Record ID#108675) - Heritage conservation

📋 Staff Comments

1. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism was originally established at the 17th China-ASEAN Summit on November 13, 2014. Then, on March 23, 2016, the Chinese Government announced the establishment of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund which would provide USD 300 million in concessional loans over 5-years (2016-2021) for small- and medium-sized cooperation projects in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Since 2021, each country has signed individual MoU's with the Chinese government to continue financing for projects under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund. It is unclear if the new MoU's are financed through concessional loans as well. Most projects funded through the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund (LMCSF) do not contain repayment terms or appear on government agency or company financial statements as borrowings, thus AidData has decided to code post-2021 LMCSF projects as grants.

📚 Sources & References

The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Special Fund 2023 to sponsor Cambodia’s nine cooperation initiatives. Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.