Under the AFoCO program to improve fire management in Member Countries, the Republic of Korea donated five fire forest vehicles to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia.
Witnessed by the H.E. Mr. Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and H.E. Mr. Park Heung-Kyeong, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Cambodia, the official ceremony for the handover of the vehicles was held on 24 February 2020, in Phom Penh, Cambodia.
The Minister expressed his high appreciation to the government of the Republic of Korea, AFoCO, and the Korea-Mekong Forest Cooperation Centre for their contribution and dedicated efforts towards preventing forest fire disasters in the region and for sharing experiences and best practices on forest fire management, forest restoration, and sustainable forest development and management. Looking forward to the long-term benefits of such interventions, he further mentioned that “these firefighting facilities and equipment will directly benefit local forest management units.”
Mr. Chencho Norbu, Executive Director of AFoCO, expressed his sincere thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for its cooperation and assistance throughout the process, adding that the donation reaffirmed the Republic of Korea’s continued support and commitment on forest cooperation.
Following the ceremony, the Secretariat staff conducted a hands-on training on the operation and maintenance for officials in charge and distributed manuals on to guide officials on how to regularly inspect and maintain the vehicles. The Cambodia government also plans to distribute the vehicles to regions across the country.
The AFoCO Program on improving forest fire management aims to expand the technical capacities of Member Countries through the provision of appropriate technology and equipment to enhance the effectiveness of forest fire management systems and operations in Member Countries. After acquiring second-hand forest fire vehicles from donors, the AFoCO Secretariat refurbishes the vehicles and facilitates the overseas shipment to Member Countries. In 2019, 5 forest fire vehicles were given to Myanmar’s Forest Department under the Program.
