PHNOM PENH (FN), September, 2 – In a meeting with visiting Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs for a courtesy call and discussion on September 2, 1016 at Peace Palace, Prime Minister Hun Sen asked for Canadian assistance in improving Cambodian capacity to cope with climate change that become more and more serious from year to year.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen told the Canadian Minister, Stéphane Dion, that in 2016, Cambodia has suffered from a lot of natural disasters namely drought, tornedos, and lightning that have affected a lot of people. He said Cambodia is looking for ways to cope with and is working to adapt to the situation,” Eang Sophalleth, assistant to the premier, told reporters after the meeting.

In his remarks to the Canadian Minister, Prime Minister Hun Sen asked that developed countries take more responsibilities towards climate change since those countries have utilized lots of natural resources the results of which have bad impact on developing and least-developed countries.

Responding to the concern expressed by the premier, Mr. Stéphane said Canada attaches lot of importance to climate change and has therefore allocated a budget of as much as to $2.6 billion to assist poor countries that are affected by climate change.

Mr. Stéphane explained that the aim of his visit to Cambodia was to enhance partnership of Canada and Cambodia and that Canada is also interested in boosting investment in the areas of insurance, information technology, water management and environment.

With thanks to the government and the people of Canada for their contribution to peace and development of Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen also asked Canada to help with the ASEAN Mine Center in Cambodia.