Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina recommended that the Technical Secretariat on Economic Land Concessions maintain a database of the companies which received economic land concessions. Regular inter-ministerial meetings should be held to deliver updates on the progress of each of the companies.
Tina also instructed officials to report on any disputes which were linked to the companies, along with details of mechanism to seek solutions for those disputes, said a February 3 social media post by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
“In addition, the secretariat must prepare key performance indicators, by taking into account legal aspects the effectiveness of each project’s implementation. Each company should be informed that land concessions may be revoked if they fail to meet the obligations stipulated in their contracts,” it added.
“The minister urged the secretariat to accelerate privatisation of each economic land concession in order for the companies to produce long term master investment plans,” it continued.
The economic land concession mechanism was introduced in 2004, through Sub-decree 146, dated December 27. They are intended to support economic growth throughout the agriculture sector, drive rural economic development, and contribute to improving the livelihoods of the people.
To manage this mechanism, a technical secretariat was established, with components from the agriculture, environment, finance, land management and interior ministries, along with the Council for Development of Cambodia and the Council of Ministers.
Due to certain issues, land concessions have been on hold since 2012.
