AKP Phnom Penh, June 22, 2026 --

Cambodia's ambassador to South Korea has thrown his full weight behind Seoul's official development assistance (ODA) initiatives, calling an ongoing food processing project "critical and urgent" for his nation's development, official said Monday.

Cambodian Ambassador to South Korea H.E. Khuon Phon Ratanak made the remarks during a meeting with a joint delegation in Seoul on Friday. The delegation included H.E. Hong Rada, Undersecretary of State for Cambodia's Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Mr. Kim Young-chan, Director of the Korea Food Research Institute.

During the meeting at the Royal Embassy of the Kingdom of Cambodia in Seoul, H.E. Hong Rada briefed the ambassador on the operations of a food processing centre in Cambodia and shared insights gained during his second official visit to South Korea.

He noted that benchmarks gathered from touring South Korean food research institutes, factories, and private enterprises would provide valuable blueprints to optimise production chains and overcome technical bottlenecks at Cambodia's own food processing facilities.

For his part, Mr. Kim Young-chan expressed gratitude to the Cambodian ministry and embassy for their close cooperation, requesting continued diplomatic backing to promote the achievements and benefits of South Korea's ODA projects in the country.

In response, Ambassador Khuon Phon Ratanak highly praised South Korea's aid initiatives, pledging to actively promote the success of the joint food processing venture to prospective partners.

He also urged Cambodian officials to prepare for a strategic shift from traditional aid models toward high-tech, technology-driven development projects to meet rapidly evolving market and economic demands.

By K. Rithy Reak