Recent reports suggest that Japan has agreed to provide grant aid worth up to 2.3 billion yen (approximately US$16 million) to Cambodia. This aid is intended for the country's National Data Center and government digitization plan. The decision was made after a meeting between senior officials from both countries.
The National Data Center aims to support the digitization of administrative services in Cambodia. The grant will be used for the necessary equipment and construction of the Center, which began in July of this year in Phnom Penh.
The Center is expected to be operational by 2025 and is estimated to cost a total of US$30 million. In January 2022, Cambodia announced its Cambodia Digital Government Policy 2022-2035. This program aims to fully digitize government operations by 2035. At the time of the announcement, the lack of a national data center for data storage and computing resources was identified as a weakness.
Additionally, ministries and institutions in Cambodia have limited infrastructure and technical capacity to ensure digital security. Cambodia currently has a small data center market. In May 2023, ByteDC launched a 3MW facility in the capital city, Phnom Penh. The agreement with Japan also supports the development and improvement of the public telecommunications network in Cambodia.
This includes promoting investment and technical assistance from the Japanese private sector. The Japanese Foreign Ministry states that this support is based on the Cambodian government's efforts to enhance mobile network coverage and connectivity.
